


Forgiveness

by secretcastle



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-04-25 10:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 71,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14377218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretcastle/pseuds/secretcastle
Summary: Arendelle and its neighboring countries are swept in the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars seven years after Elsa’s coronation.  Amidst the daily deaths Anna encounters while serving as a nurse, she comes across a man from her past who will remind her of old wounds, create fresh pains and test the limits of her compassion.   A post-Frozen, canon-based story set during the Russian campaign of 1812.





	1. Anna's Regret

_Warsaw, Poland_

_September 24, 1812_

 

Anna walked steadily down the dimly lit well-worn passageways, past the makeshift beds full of moaning soldiers and nurses changing bandages. The air was filled with the horrible stench of disinfectant, blood and vomit. She had gotten used to the smells just as she had learned to ignore the sound of screams.

"No don't cut! Don't cut, please!" someone yelled from one of the surgical rooms she passed.

"Hold him steady nurse! Hold him still!" the authoritative voice of the doctor said in a tone that indicated he was more irritated than concerned of his unruly patient. The unseen patient continued to beg to be let go in halting French before he screamed hysterically then suddenly fell silent.

Anna's breath hitched a split-second but she kept on walking. Amputation was a way of life here. She knew it was best to just let the doctors work their own way as fast as they could. Delicate handling of patients was a luxury doctors can no longer afford since there would half a dozen patients that needed surgery before the day was over.

The last batch of injured had come in thirty hours ago. Most of the fresh arrivals had already been patched, sewn or amputated. For the unlucky ones, they had been shipped to the morgue, their names recorded in the ledgers for the dead and their possessions tagged for storage to be sent to their relatives when the regular supply wagons arrived. It was all routinely efficient, devoid of emotion. Anna found the calmness of it almost comforting after a harrowing two weeks she spent tending to the droves of wounded that arrived from the latest battle.

Anna could still see the images when she closed her eyes: men with missing limbs, scarred faces, or torn torsos, bleeding, screaming and puking their guts out by turns. They cried in dozens of tongues, most she could not even understand, but all spoke the language of pain.

She wanted to sob with each death she witnessed, each scream of agony or each whimper of resignation she heard, but she couldn't. There was always another patient to attend to, another chance to save a soul from hurt and death. Then another and another. There were so many injured patients that she lost count. And still they kept coming.

For days, the number of patients coming in swelled that the beds in the hospital could no longer accommodate them. Floors, tables and even the barn and the outside lawn became makeshift cots. Blankets, bandages and morphine became scarce that it was almost a blessing when someone died for it meant one more bed to offer a new patient and one less bandage to waste.

When the number of new patients finally trickled down, the dead began arriving. Cartloads upon cartloads of corpses for identification came in numbers far greater than the living patients. Anna passed one cart one time after an exhausting shift and had to turn away. It wasn't the smell or sight of the bodies that struck her, but the utter silence. Far worse than hearing a man in pain, she realized, was knowing these men would never even weep in agony, for death took them before any medical help came their way in the battlefield.  Anna completely lost the ability to cry that day even as she contemplated how things had turned out so differently from her expectations.

One French lieutenant told her on the first day the massive numbers of injured arrived that they won the Battle of Borodino. The Grand Army had pushed back the Russian forces and they now had a clear path to Moscow. "It was a great victory," he said.

 _Victory?_ Anna mused bitterly. _Was this what a victory looked like? Thousands were dead and hundreds more lay dying in this hospital and in the dozens of medical centers spread across Poland. How many more would die on the march to Moscow?_

Arendelle was forced into an alliance with Napoleonic France three years ago as did most of the Scandinavian states. Over 800 Arendellian men were conscripted into the French army, including Anna's husband Kristoff. Elsa also agreed to send at least fifty medical workers to the hospitals set up in the Duchy of Warsaw as part of the alliance treaty. Anna, who had some basic training as a nurse, volunteered to go as well to set an example and encourage the morale of their people. Not that an increase in morale was needed when the Arendellian delegation first joined the Grand Army in Prussia back in April. Everyone said Russia would surrender to Napoleon with barely an effort. The Grand Army had more than half a million troops, the biggest fighting force probably assembled in all of history. Almost all of Europe was united under the famous French Emperor that had a formidable reputation of swiftly beating his enemies.

Anna left Arendelle full of dreams of glorious adventure and pictured herself coming home with her war hero Kristoff by early autumn to be reunited with their four-year-old twins. She had even told a worried Elsa to have the birthday bugle horn polished for she might be back by her birthday in the middle of summer. She never thought things could go wrong.

By June, Anna felt the first taste of what war really meant. Casualties began arriving at the hospital from minor skirmishes with the Russian military forces called Cossacks.   However, most of the patients were brought in due to dysentery and influenza.  Anna kept a record of every single Arendellian that joined the campaign in a journal she brought along with the intention of recording down the heroic deeds of her men to preserve as a book for the glory of Arendelle. To her shock, more than 250 of them died from illness even before they could fire a shot, a hundred more were sent back with injuries too severe to allow them to continue to fight  and almost seventy were declared missing.  Her book became a tally of the dead, the injured and the disappeared.

Kristoff, thankfully, had been not among them. She received a letter from him on the first of July and he described horrors that she never imagined:

 

My Dearest Anna,

I begin this with assurances that I am safe and in relatively good health, fatigue withstanding. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the army and our countrymen. I know you are eagerly awaiting news of their heroic deeds to add to your book but I can offer nothing but bad news.

We have been marching for months now but we are still weeks away from Moscow and the fatigue is already getting to us. The journey is slow.  Hard rains would come pelting on us, making the roads muddy and unstable.  We trudge through the mud which makes the carts bearing our provisions difficult to move.   And when the rains clear, the Russian sun beats hard on our backs so our packs feel even heavier. Elsa's ice storms is often a wishful prayer of the men for we never knew we could miss the cold so much.

Our hopes often pick up when we approach a town or village. We always imagined we would be welcomed warmly by the people like the ones in Warsaw. But nothing like that ever happened. Every field, every village, every town was the same.  It was all abandoned and burned to the ground by the Russians themselves. There was nothing left for us. No food, no shelter. We live on our rations and march on in the sweltering heat or the damp rain.

There have been a few encounters with the Cossacks. They usually attack the flanks and they do so with the viciousness of wild animals. However, they were not the worst enemy we have encountered so far. Sickness was our enemy. Sickness of both the body and the spirit. I watched almost a tenth of our forces fall ill and never recover. Fighting within the ranks is common. Our relations with men from the Northern Isles, Southern Isles, Corona and even Weselton are cordial enough due to our similar tongues and culture. However, it is not unusual for spats to occur among the men from different regions. Slurs against a particular race often end up in fistfights or duels that resolved nothing and contributed to reducing our fighting force.

However, the most devastating are the desertions. Huge companies of men would just disappear at night, taking with them precious weapons and supplies. The French officers would pursue them and execute them if captured. It breaks my heart to tell you but a group of Arendellians had been among them last week.

Twenty-four men, among them Svalbarg and Tomlinson, my own ice harvesting companions, took our regiment’s provisions and ran into the night during a Cossack attack. They never got far. A group of French and Polish soldiers captured them and brought them back to camp the following day. Our men begged me to intercede for them. They said they were just so tired of all this.  They just wanted to come home to their families. They couldn't understand why we were even here. The Russians never harmed us or our people, why are we fighting them? Why are we invading them?

I could offer them no answers. I understood Elsa's decision to take part in this. It was either ally with Napoleon or be occupied.  She did what she could to keep us free. But from my heart, I knew these men were right.  This isn't our war! 

I wanted to help them, but I couldn’t.  As the highest ranking Arendellian in our regiment, it was my duty to turn them over to the higher authorities.  And I did.  They were shot to death that very afternoon.  You will no doubt read about them in the official reports.  They will be marked as deserters, traitors.  But I wrote down their names at the end of this letter for you to put in your book.  Write it down that they were just men, honorable men, who realized that they didn’t have a taste for killing others just because someone is telling them to.

I don’t know when I can send another letter after this.  We may be too far away for the messengers to reach and provisions will have to take priority over letters.  Just remember that I think about you constantly and I will try my best to get back to you and our children.  I’m enclosing another letter for our little ones with this that you can forward to Elsa.  She can read it to Agdar and Idunn.  

If I don’t come back, know that I will always love you and our children.

Yours forever,

Kristoff

  
That was the last letter from Kristoff.  From then on, Anna relied only on the regular tallies of the dead, wounded and missing released by the administrative army office and prayed each time she looked that Kristoff's name wouldn't be among them. His name never did, but the names of Arendellians populated them.  She wrote letters to the families of those that passed on to provide her own personal condolences.  She did it religiously after each shift until that fateful September day when the hospital was overrun with the wounded and dead from the Battle of Borodino that she was left no time at all to even sleep, much less write.  Even when things slowed down at the hospital, she stopped writing.  She simply could not find any more words of comfort to write.

She preferred to spend time after each shift with the convalescing men.  She sponge bathed them, changed their bandages, told them stories or wrote letters to their families while they dictated to her.

Today was different though. Anna had just completed a twenty-six hour shift. Normally, the maximum required hours at the hospital were only sixteen during non-critical days. It was the first time she had exceeded this many hours and it was all because of a green-eyed young man.

His name was Lundt, at least that was what she could gather from his nametag. He hailed from one of the Confederated States of the Rhine. His native tongue was unintelligible to her and he spoke just rudimentary French in a thick accent that it was hard to discern the words. Since Anna's French was also less than perfect, they had difficulty understanding each other. They made do with gestures most of the time. He came into the hospital with a missing leg, the beneficiary of a quick amputation in the field. He was sent to the hospital after he developed an infection possibly from the same amputation or some other disease he picked up on the way. The doctor had given him all the standard medicines and pronounced that his recovery depended on God. He either pulled through or he didn't. Anna was optimistic he would survive. He was so young, only twenty-three years old and quite cheerful when he wasn't delirious with fever. He hummed along when she sang while she sponged him.  He called her “Angel Anna.”

Eight hours ago his fever took a turn for the worst and Anna never left his side. Whenever she asked him if he wanted a doctor to check on him his reply was always the same: "Just you."

It sent her chills each time he said those two words but she ignored them. At four 'o clock this morning, his breathing became horribly labored. Anna shouted for a doctor but Lundt caught her arm and murmured almost calmly, his green eyes intent on hers: "Apology, apology... for trouble. Thank you... for every moment after."

His eyes remained on Anna’s even after his hand fell limp.  It didn't take the doctor long to declare Lundt dead. Anna took the news stoically. She kissed his forehead, closed his eyes and reported his time of death in the official ledger.  She calmly left the room, ignoring the smells and the sounds, even as her mind reeled with memories.

It was only when she came out of the hospital doors that she felt the tumble of emotions envelop her like the chill of the early morning air. She fell into her knees and openly sobbed like she hadn't done in days.  She didn't know how long she cried, or even who she was crying for. Lundt wasn't the first soldier she had seen die. The others she had seen had had worst deaths. His was blessedly peaceful by comparison.

 _But only Lundt had his eyes. Hans' eyes_ , came her unbidden thoughts. _It could have been him who died today._

She hadn't thought about Hans for a long time. The man that had broken her heart seven years ago had been among the things she consigned to the far recesses of her memory. The last time she had thought of him, she had been angry and cared not if he was dead. In fact she had wished it.  She wished she could take it back now.

 

***

 

_May 8, 1808_

_Arendelle Castle_

 

"They're letting him go?! Are they insane!" Anna exclaimed indignantly at her sister as she snatched the piece of paper Elsa had just read aloud from.

The letter was a report in Prince Lars of the Southern Isles' neat handwriting. Anna read the main paragraph twice, her blood boiling with each word.

Due to the urgent need for trained officers for the ongoing war, the court of the Southern Isles has commuted the sentence of prisoner Prince Hans to ten years of servitude in the military, where he shall be reinstated his previous rank of Captain and will serve the Continental Army in defense of his country and its allies.

"Ten years and he gets a pardon? And they even gave him back his rank!" Anna cried. "This is their punishment? Letting a murderer like him out of the cage? Giving him a rank so he can be a hero in some battle?"

"Anna, calm down," Elsa said gently. "He didn't exactly murder anyone."

"Well he almost did!"

You're forgetting the next part," Elsa went on. "He's being sent to the frontlines where the fighting is worst and he has a bigger chance of ending up dead."

"Or he has a bigger chance of getting away while receiving all the glory in this stupid war so he can make a comeback and take advantage of the next kingdom that opens their doors to him. Elsa, come on, you can't actually believe he wouldn't use this opportunity?"

"Lars reassures us this is a just punishment. Hans can be more useful fighting than locked up. They do need men, Anna."

"One man isn't going to make a difference," Anna insisted. "Lars is your brother-in-law, Elsa. Can't you explain the situation to him?"

Elsa heaved a sigh but her words remained calm. "I don't need to explain anything Anna, I agree with him. Lars is my brother-in-law, which makes Hans my brother-in-law as well, and yours by extension. In the eyes of the world, the Southern Isles is part of our family now and we need to support them publicly in this."

"Elsa you married into the Northern Isles, not the Southern Isles," Anna said pointedly.

"You don't have to remind me," Elsa bristled bitterly. Anna quickly realized she said the wrong thing and was immediately sorry.

Six months earlier, Elsa married Prince Knudsvig of the Northern Isles as part of a treaty that saved Arendelle from potential famine and protected it from the rising conflict in Europe.  French leader Napoleon Bonaparte's ongoing war brought British blockades on the usual sea trading routes that Arendelle depended on eighteen months after Elsa was crowned. Difficult as the situation was, Elsa still managed to keep things afloat for more than a year by trading with other neighboring states. However, when the British attacked Copenhagen by the autumn of 1807 and effectively brought most of those same neighboring states into the war, neutral Arendelle suddenly found itself without a trading partner that can provide much needed fuel and food. With winter fast approaching and the British still blocking the Arendellian ships, Elsa surrendered to the pressure of her advisors and signed a treaty with the remaining neutral state that still had the capability to support Arendelle.

Prince Knudsvig was as far away from the ideal husband that Anna had always imagined her sister would marry. The younger second son of the king of the Northern Isles was six years Elsa's junior and had a snively, stick-thin figure that Anna liked to think can be blown away by the slightest frosty wind Elsa can create. Extremely superstitious, cowardly and without a backbone, Knudsvig was most likely bullied by his father into the marriage. He was a nervous wreck during the wedding and more so on the wedding night when he was brought in drunk to Elsa's bedchamber. The following morning, Anna found Elsa in tears and unwilling to speak of what occurred that night but with evidence that the marriage had been consummated. A purple bruise that formed on Elsa's cheek told Anna, Knudsvig had hurt her sister. Anna was about to punch the still snoozing groom when Knudsvig's older sister, Princess Amelia intervened. She calmly took Elsa aside to comfort her, while Amelia's husband Prince Lars of the Southern Isles hauled the half-conscious groom to make him presentable for the wedding breakfast.

Anna never knew what happened that night for Elsa refused talk about it. However, it was the last time Elsa and her husband shared a bed. Knudsvig spent most of his time in a country house away from Arendelle castle where he was reported to be engaged in high stakes gambling, drinking and consorting with women of ill-repute. Elsa turned a blind eye to the reports and merely signed the payments for the expensive stipend for her husband each month. It was a situation Anna was not happy with, but Elsa told her it was for the best. Elsa was able to rule without the interference of a husband and managed to retain Arendelle's independence due to the Northern Isles strong military back up.

"I'm sorry Elsa, I didn't mean to belittle what you've sacrifice for us, for me," Anna said sincerely as she hugged her sister. "It should have been me who married Knudsvig. I should be the one dealing with all this trouble."

"It's alright Anna," Elsa said as she hugged her back. "I'm glad you got pregnant when you did. Your twins are the future of Arendelle and they are the light of my life now."

Elsa was referring to Anna's children with Kristoff. Born just last month, twin babies Idunn and Agdar were conceived out of wedlock at the crucial time when Elsa was being pressured by her council to marry Anna off to gain the Northern Isles' support. As Anna was no longer eligible for a royal marriage due to her condition, Elsa offered herself instead. Anna then married Kristoff in a hasty private ceremony to prevent a scandal.

"I love your babies like they are my own Anna," Elsa continued. "And I need to ensure a free Arendelle for them. This is precisely why we need to support the Southern Isles' court decision on Hans."

Anna let go of her sister's embrace and frowned. "I don't understand. What does that have to do with Hans?"

Elsa held Anna's hands tightly to emphasize the seriousness of the matter. "Anna, our situation grows more precarious daily. We need to start having more cordial relations with the Southern Isles. They have a naval force bigger than the Northern Isles and they are already allied with France. If and when Napoleon decides that Arendelle should stop being a neutral party in this war, he could send the Southern Isles to invade us. Anna, my marriage to Knudsvig is not enough anymore to keep us safe."

"And you think Hans' family will?" Anna asked.

"Right now, our tie to them through Knudsvig's sister is the only thing keeping them from invading.  I'm hearing reports that the Northern Isles is being pressured to ally with Britain in this war. If it does..."

"No!" Anna gasped. "We are not joining them too! The British tried to starve us out!"

"No, we are not, Anna," Elsa replied steadily. "If we do that, the Southern Isles will most certainly invade the Northern Isles and Arendelle will be caught in the middle.”

“So we remain neutral then?” Anna asked.

Elsa shook her head.  “We can’t.  We’ll be fair game to both countries if we do. When the time comes for us to pick a side, we ally with the French and the Southern Isles."

"But your marriage to Knudsvig…?"

"Can be dissolved," Elsa replied matter-of-factly without meeting her eyes.

Anna couldn't find anything to say but her puzzled expression was enough to prompt Elsa to answer.

"Anna, this is something that can only be discussed between us. Promise me, nothing I say here comes out until the right time."

Anna nodded solemnly.

Elsa paced the floor for a moment then spoke without meeting Anna’s eyes.  "My marriage to Knudsvig was never consummated. Legally, that's a ground for annulment."

Anna’s mouth fell open with surprise.  "But the sheets... on your wedding night?"

"Amelia helped me to fake it,” Elsa admitted.  “She and Lars planned it, with my consent. They have given me an opportunity to get out of the alliance with the Northern Isles if it turns to Britain.  Until then, we need to keep our good relationship with the Southern Isles, which means I cannot protest their court’s decision on a member of their family.”

Anna buried her face into her hands and let out a muffled yell.   This was so frustrating!  Everything was just getting harder and harder wherever they turned with this pointless war.  When she had let out much of her pent up emotion she turned back to her sister.  “I guess there is some good to this.  At least you’ll get rid of Knudsvig, the worthless idiot!”

Elsa bit her lip uncomfortably and heaved a sigh.  “Not necessarily.  I’m only letting him go if the Northern Isles allies with Britain.  If they decide to ally with France, I’m staying married to Knudsvig.  There’s no point in alienating an ally with a scandalous annulment if I don’t need to Anna.”

“Ugh! I hate politics!” Anna cried out.  “Okay fine!  We can still look forward to a silver lining.  Maybe Hans will die in this stupid war.  Yeah, that’s not a far possibility, right?  I hope he does die and before that I hope he suffers a great deal in a cold wasteland that’s suitable to his frozen heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew inspiration to this story on real events during the Napoleonic era which more or less occurs near the timeline of Frozen. This story will take place mostly during the Russian campaign when Napoleon organized the Grand Army of more than 600,000 soldiers, composed of citizens from multiple nations that included France, Prussia, Austria, Denmark-Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Naples, the Confederated States of the Rhine and the Duchy of Warsaw among other nearby states. 
> 
> The Battle of Borodino occurred on September 7, 1812. It was the single bloodiest battle of the Russian campaign that claimed around 70,000 lives in a day. However, this was only the beginning of a more devastating tragedy when the Grand Army suffered greatly during the Russian Winter. In the end only around 110,000 (some sources say only 45,000) men were able to return home alive from the original numbers that marched into Russia. 
> 
> I pictured that Arendelle, the Southern Isles and other small states in this region would also be swallowed up in this war and I wanted to write this story from someone who would be caught in the middle of it. I imagined Anna, as an unconventional princess, would have a big heart and enough courage to serve her people as a nurse in an age when the practice of nursing was not even considered a profession but an errand of mercy. I tried to describe an accurate picture of what Anna could have experienced in a hospital during this era. This was a time when there were barely any anesthetics available and antibiotics were non-existent. Amputation was a common way to treat those who have suffered injuries and a third of the amputated soldiers died due to infection. On top of injuries, diseases were also prevalent causes of death as hygiene was poor in the army camps. 
> 
> This is probably the darkest, most painful Frozen story I’ve come up. I wanted to explore a historical setting and tap into the complex traits of our favorite characters as they go through the gruesome realities of life in the early 1800s.


	2. The Man in Room 409

_Warsaw, Poland_

_November 16, 1812_

 

"Bjorgson said to me: 'You take my coat when I'm gone. Use it to keep warm. Get back home and if you can, come to Arendelle and give it to my son. Tell him his father wore it proudly.' I told him he could give the coat himself when he comes home. I said he was being silly. He was Arendellian, for heaven's sake. His Queen rules the snow and he better live up to her reputation. If there was someone who was gonna die of cold it would be me. I'm Weseltonian, our Duke hates his Ice Queen. I waited for him to laugh just like the dozens of times he did when we traded jokes like this in the camp. But he didn't. I looked at him and he was gone. Just like that."

The man hung his head and sniffled tearfully. "Bjorgson was my friend.  He was gone and there was nothing I could do."

Anna held the stump that used to be the man's hand and gently caressed it. "He was my friend too," she said. "I knew Bjorgson's wife. She made dresses for me and my sister. Their daughters always helped us with the fittings and their son, little Peter carried the packages. We always had their family over for celebrations during the New Year..."

Anna's voice faltered and she fought back her own tears. Come New Year the Bjorgson family would not be celebrating together as a whole. They never will again.

"I know there is a ban on Weseltonians in Arendelle imposed by your sister, Princess Anna," the man went on in a slightly embarrassed manner. "But if you will permit me, will you allow me into your country to give Bjorgson's coat to his son as he wanted."

Ann felt tears prickle her eyes and she no longer held them back.   She let them roll down her cheeks as she nodded.  "You will always be welcome Lt. Hundt. It's time to heal those wounds between our countries. I will speak to Elsa about it."

"Thank you, thank you, your highness," the man said gratefully as he lay back down on the bed. Anna knew she should let the man rest.  She said goodbye to him and took her leave.

She headed to the nurse's station and took out her journal she kept on the shelf below the counter. She opened it, searched for the name and scribbled a few words right next to it:

** Private Josef Bjorgson ** – Survived through the occupation of Moscow.  Killed in action on the winter retreat to Warsaw on the 2nd of November, 1812.

She let out a sigh. She felt a strange sense of relief in writing those words “killed in action” next to another Arendellian name. It was somehow comforting to know for certain one man's fate, fatal as it may be, instead of pondering endlessly if a worse event had befallen him.

Anna was tortured daily with such uncertain pondering for the space next to Kristoff's name in her journal had remained blank.

The weeks that followed the Battle of Borodino had been relatively slow in the hospital. Once the aftermath of that carnage from that September day had passed, very few new patients arrived. In fact, except for the occasional illness from the members of the local militia stationed on the borders of Russia and Poland, no new injuries from the fighting force came through the doors. It seemed like a sign of good tidings and everyone began to think that the worst was over.

News from the frontlines was slow and it was only by first week of October that they received word that Napoleon and the Grand Army had taken Moscow in mid-September. Anna had rejoiced with her colleagues in the hospital at the news then. For days, there was much celebrating and she even wrote to Elsa that she should start planning for a party for they would be back soon. Certainly, Czar Alexander I had surrendered by now and the Grand Army was on its way home. It was a victory. No one doubted it.

However, as days turned into weeks with no news of a Russian surrender and the cold winds began to creep in, the atmosphere of fear began to return.

What was going on? Why hasn't the army turned back? Why hasn't Napoleon sent for a new company of administrators to help with governing this new conquered territory under the French Empire? These were the questions on everyone's minds that were finally answered on All Hallows Eve. That grim night, the first cart bearing tired, hungry and frostbitten soldiers arrived and revealed the truth: Russia didn’t surrender at all.

The Grand Army found Moscow much like they found most villages they passed through: abandoned and burned with nothing to sustain the already tired troops. Napoleon held out for a month and waited for the surrender that never came. Instead, winter came for them and it brought down upon the Grand Army far more devastating losses than any fighting force the Russians previously sent.

Anna listened to the harrowing stories of the men while she bandaged their fingerless hands and toeless feet—casualties of the unyielding cold. They told tales of horses dying and hungry men chopping them up to feed themselves. Men dropped dead just as easily and their possessions—shoes, coats, or rations—taken just as quickly by their companions to survive. The Cossack raids still went on and woe it was to a regiment that became isolated or too weak to defend itself for it would be mercilessly cut to pieces.

Within days, little groups of men arrived at the hospital all with the same horrifying tales of winter defeat and damaged bodies. Barely any corpses arrived as no one bothered to retrieve them anymore. As a result, it became difficult to account how many troops still survived or identify who still lived. The missing list became the default position of every soldier not previously accounted as dead or injured.

Anna tried to get as much information as possible from the surviving soldiers about Kristoff's whereabouts. So far, not one Arendellian had turned up alive from the winter march. However, as soldiers from the same region were often designated in the same regiments, she figured there was a greater chance she could obtain news from soldiers coming from the states closest geographically to Arendelle. Her strategy worked for she managed to confirm the identities of eight dead Arendellians from two Coronans and a Northern Isles survivor over the last two weeks. The Weseltonian that came in today wearing a coat that bore the Arendellian floral crest had given her a ninth death confirmation.

"Any news, Anna?" Fria, one of her co-nurses asked as she stared apprehensively at the journal in Anna's hands. Almost everyone in the hospital knew Anna had a husband in the army and that she kept track of her people. Everyone liked Anna in general so the entire staff was always eager to tell her news of any sort that she might find useful. 

"No news of Kristoff," Anna declared. "But I lost another one. A friend."

Fria quickly hugged her. "I'm sorry."

Anna savored the warmth from the Prussian girl’s embrace.  For a long moment, she let herself be comforted and allowed herself to shed a few tears.  Fria reminded her of Elsa.  She was the same age as Anna’s sister and always seemed to know how to comfort her without needing words.  It took her several minutes, but finally Anna managed to calm down and dry her tears.

"I'll be okay," said Anna when she finally recovered. "This man said the regiments had scattered off due to the raids. It's difficult to keep track of anyone now."

"You'll find him," Fria said encouragingly.

Anna merely nodded. She noted that Fria no longer specifically mentioned whether she would find Kristoff alive. She held no anger for her friend for she knew Fria was a realist.   As hard as Anna wished it, it was becoming increasingly hard to hope that Kristoff would come back alive and well to her.

The hospital doors opened and someone barked that a fresh batch of patients had just arrived. Anna stiffened her back and put her journal back into the shelf and her thoughts aside. Emotions had to wait. There were patients that needed her.

The next several hours flew by as Anna concentrated on her tasks. The patients that just came in were some of the worst she had seen so far: hypothermia, severe dehydration and pneumonia were common. Others had infections from wounds they sustained previously that were made worse due to the exposure to the cold.

By the end of her shift, Anna was so exhausted that her nursing superior noticed. She ordered Anna to get some rest. Anna agreed without protest and was about to pack up for the day when Fria came running to her.

"Anna, one of the patients that came in today is from the Southern Isles. Someone saw his name and citizenship in the list they just posted."

Anna dropped everything and followed her friend to the bulletin board that had been set at the hospital lobby. It tallied mostly the dead and missing, but one shorter list on the corner announced the survivors. 

The latest list of new arrivals was almost thirty names long but only one was indicated to be from the Southern Isles.

"Colonel Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen," Anna read aloud and immediately giggled at the familiar name.

"Something funny?" asked a puzzled Fria.

"It's his name," Anna explained. "My sister has a stuffed penguin doll she called Sir Jorgenbjorgen. She named him after some boring politician she read about."

Fria laughed back. "Oh I get it. This Colonel survives because he has the same name as a penguin doll. It figures, a penguin survives the cold of Russia."

Anna laughed as well. It was so good to occasionally make jokes with a friend. It helped to release the tension over their daily encounters with tragedy.  "Better yet, a penguin of the Ice Queen,” Anna mused as she pictured a little man in a blue coat with one squinting eye—a human version of Elsa's doll.  “Who knows, maybe he even looks like Elsa's penguin."

Using her finger, Fria traced an invisible line from the name to the opposite column that indicated the man's assigned room number. She immediately frowned.  "He's in room 409," said Fria.

They both knew that was in the pneumonia ward. Pneumonia was among the more dreaded conditions in the hospital. Most of the men that had it didn't last long.

"Well I better see him now and talk to him before it's too late." Anna said.

They walked together in silence until they reached the appropriate wing.  They inquired after the man on the nurse on duty stationed outside the room.

"The Colonel," the nurse nodded as she checked her list.   "I remember him.   He was quite a fighter. When he came in, the stitches on his shoulder from a previous injury were torn open. He's got several contusions on his chest, probably from shrapnel. It was treated before but it was pretty crude, must have hurt like hell. It's a wonder he's still alive after traveling those miles in the snow. He's been given the usual treatment for pneumonia. He's been purging for the last several hours but we've given him laudanum for the pain and he's asleep right now so there's no point in talking to him. If he does wake up within the next few hours, he might have a better chance of recovery."

Anna felt disappointed but she didn't want to miss this chance. It could be he might know something about Kristoff.

"Can I wait for him to wake up?" Anna asked.

The on-duty nurse gave Anna a sad smile. "It's worth a shot if you don't mind extending hours after your shift."

Anna thanked her and the duty nurse let her and Fria in. "He's in the bed in the farthest left corner."

Anna strode in, her mind still thinking of Elsa's penguin when she saw the man on the bed.  He lay flat on his back and she could see from the rise and fall of his chest that he was breathing evenly in sleep.  He wore no shirt for his torso was wrapped in a bandage that extended to his left shoulder.  His messy hair lit the room with its distinctive colorful hue and did little to hide his face.

Her heart stopped.

Fria bumped into her. "What? Does Colonel Jorgenbjorgen really look like a penguin?" she joked.

Anna shook her head as she stared at him, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"His name is not Colonel Jorgenbjorgen," she said softly.   She walked forward slowly until she stopped by the foot of the bed of the man she knew only too well.

"He’s Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who sent their reviews on the first chapter. This one will be a short story, just a few chapters, no way near the length of TQA, but I’m thinking of writing possibly another related story to it once I finish this one. 
> 
> I did some research on illnesses that were common in the Napoleonic Era and pneumonia came up as among the deadlier ones due to the absence of antibiotics which is the standard treatment now. I found one reference that the treatment for pneumonia in the 1800s included bloodletting and giving the patient Antimony to induce vomiting and Mercury as a laxative to basically purge the body of the bad humors. We know now that both elements are highly toxic. So yes, if the sickness didn’t kill you, an overdose of the cure did.


	3. The Charming Colonel

"It's not his name!" Anna said to the hospital clerk as she sat across his desk littered with stacks of papers. As soon as she recognized her former fiance, Anna marched off to the hospital administrator's office to check if they made an identity mix-up. 

The clerk didn’t exactly appreciate being disturbed, especially at this time of night when he was about to pack up for the day.  However, Anna had pulled the princess card and he begrudgingly opened drawers to draw out a file for her.  It now lay open before her on the desk.  One look into it and Anna’s protest went into full force. 

“I’m telling you, that’s not the man you have,” Anna insisted.  “It must be a mistake.”

"Princess Anna, please," the man pleaded as he pointed to the open folder on the desk. "The file is clear. That man in room 409 was conscripted under the name Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen since 1808. This is a copy of his original medical exam. He was sent to this hospital before during a previous campaign. He was shot twice and nearly bled to death. The scars on his chest are consistent with the ones we have on file when we treated him four years ago."

Anna bristled with frustration as this information sank in. "Then he lied on his form from the start!" she exclaimed. Her mind was a swirl of emotions. She never expected to find Hans here. She had been thinking about him since that soldier Lundt passed away before her. She prayed for the peace of Hans’ soul nightly. She was so certain that Lundt's death was some kind of cosmic signal that told her Hans was dead too. It was quite a shock to see him alive and even more so to learn that he was assuming a false name. Her pity of him quickly melted and her old suspicions returned in full force.

_Why was he using a fake name?_ Anna thought.  _Did he do it because he was trying to redeem himself so no one would know of his former crime? Maybe he still harbored plans to take over some other kingdom by marrying some unsuspecting girl in the future after the war is over and he becomes a hero. Or maybe—and this was something gruesome—he killed the real Jorgenbjorgen and assumed the man's identity?_

Whatever it was, Anna felt it her duty not to let him get away with it.

"I want to talk to him," she declared.

The clerk sighed. "You are most welcome to speak to him when he wakes up. However, I must insist you do not alarm him too much. He's in a delicate condition. Former criminal or not, he is still a patient and he has a right to proper treatment."

"That's perfectly fine," Anna agreed and took her leave with her friend following behind her. 

“Okay calm down,” Fria said when they were alone back in the corridor.

“I’m calm,” Anna reassured her.  “But I have to take care of this. Tonight.”

“Are you sure about that?” her friend asked as she fought to hide a yawn.  “Maybe we could just go back tomorrow.  Get some sleep first.” 

Anna no longer had any inclination for sleep.  This was a mystery she needed to solve and she can’t rest until she at least spoke another word with Hans.  “You go home.  I’ll stay.”

“Are you sure about this?” her friend asked in a concerned manner that again reminded Anna of Elsa  when she was in her motherly moods.

“I’m good Fria.  It’s just something I need to do.”

Fria finally relented.  “Okay, but promise you get back before midnight.”

“I will,” Anna vowed. 

They parted at a junction on the corridor with Anna taking the path that headed back to the pneumonia ward.  She found Hans still asleep.  However, the man in the bed across him was already awake and he lifted a weak hand to her in an obvious request for assistance.  Anna quickly came over to the man's side. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"Pillow please?" the man said hoarsely in French before he had a fit of coughing.  Anna complied and adjusted the pillow for the man. She figured he was also thirsty so she poured him a glass of water from a nearby pitcher which eased his coughing.

"Thank you so much. That posture was just killing me," the man said pleasantly after he had sipped the water.

"My pleasure Mr...?"

"Commandant Victor Cloutier, at your service ma'am," he said gallantly. He was about in his late forties, with thick dark hair and a pale but pleasant face. From his name and accent, Anna immediately knew he was French."

"Mrs. Anna Bjorgman, it's great to meet you.”   She offered her hand for him to shake.  The soldier took it gratefully and immediately launched into a long tale on his background. Anna stayed on to listen as she had nothing to do until Hans woke up. Commandant Cloutier was pleasant enough company and had a lot of stories to tell. As a French officer, he was able to get close enough to Emperor Napoleon to know some rather interesting anecdotes that any historian would probably want to tell in some future history book. However, he had few encounters with the men from the regions surrounding Arendelle and proved no help on any news on Kristoff.

As dinnertime rolled by, Anna stayed on, taking her meal with him, while she spoon-fed him soup.

"I feel so special, my pretty Anna had stayed," he said coquettishly when dinner was over. Anna was rather used to the soldiers flirting with her. The French officers, in particular, loved to tease the female nurses and Anna's fiery colored head usually caught their attention. She probably would have been flattered had she still been the naive isolated 18-year-old who longed for a first love.   The man on the opposite bed had certainly taught her a lot about men's empty praises. She glowered into Hans' direction at the memory.

"Hmmm, but I sense you're not exactly here for me, are you?"

"I'm sorry?"  Anna turned back to the French officer and realized he was still talking.

The man responded with a laugh and pointed to Hans. "You have been staring at him all night," he laughed heartily. "Ahhh... that man can still attract the ladies even when he's half-dead."

"Do you know him?" Anna asked.

"Colonel Jorgenbjorgen? I was with him in the long hours on the road from the field hospital. Didn't have much chance to talk as I was asleep half the time with that blessed laudanum they gave me. However, I knew him by reputation. Brave man. The men I spoke to said he held off a Cossack attack in Kaluga that saved two of our regiments. We were attacked in the night and I was among the wounded. The men in my regiment said he selected the most able fighters and led the charge with just swords. We didn't have any bullets left so the pistols were useless by then. He gave our company time to evacuate and it saved many lives, including mine. He and the men that defended us caught up to our new our camp six hours later. I saw him briefly when he came in. He was covered in blood, most of it probably his own, but his first concern was to ask for medical assistance for the men under him."

Anna kept silent as she listened to the tale. She didn't doubt Hans' aggression. She had seen how comfortable he wielded a sword but she could not understand how he would even bother being concerned for others' welfare over his own.

"Even before that night, I've been hearing stories about him from the other officers. He was said to have been in several naval battles in the French colonies in the Carribbean. The Emperor himself was quite impressed by his abilities and had awarded him for the capture of several British ships. During this campaign, I kept hearing how he fought bravely and was instrumental in the capture of Smolensk in August. I had a friend who witnessed how he kept order in the ranks when the Russians were breaking us up in Borodino. In our occupation of Moscow, he and his organized men managed to save a large cache of food supplies when the fires there raged non-stop for days. He was quite popular among the French officers. They treated him as one of them and he was rumored to be up for promotion to a position of the elite Imperial Guard—a rare thing for he isn’t even French.  Can speak like one though.  His can pull off a Parisian accent like he was born there.”

_Of course, he could, that slimy chameleon.  Hasn’t changed a bit,_ Anna seethed.  _He blended in and is back on the road to getting power for himself just as I feared._   _But I’m not about to say anything to Commandant Cloutier about that.  Best to keep it in so he can keep talking and I can know more about Hans._

“So I guess he’s doing well for himself, huh?” Anna egged on.

“You mean money?” Commandant Cloutier asked.   “He doesn’t appear to have a fortune apart from what he gets from his military pay, but he does have the manner off a gentleman so I suppose he’s had the opportunity for an education.  He’s probably a younger son with no inheritance he can claim as his own.”

_You have no idea how right you are,_ Anna thought.

“I suppose his finances will eventually change if he gets promoted,” Commandant Cloutier continued.  “A man like that who is impressive to the officers gets to places.   He certainly gets around with women.  He also earned a reputation even among the camp workers as a charmer." He laughed. "I see you got your eye on him too."

"No, I don't. It's not like that at all," Anna grumbled. 

The man gave her a wink. "Yep, that's what the girls at camp say too. In fact they..."

Anna no longer heard the end of what the French officer said for Hans suddenly sat up in a spasm of violent coughs. Anna noticed his eyes were bloodshot and he looked a bit green. She knew from experience what that meant and rushed to his side, grabbing a nearby bucket on the way. She held it out next to him just in time for him to retch into it.

Anna waited for him patiently until his vomiting stopped. She held a glass of water to him when it was over.

"Thank you," he murmured. He appeared too weak to even hold the glass so Anna held it out to him, their fingers touching as she did. He glanced up and caught her gaze, recognition instantly lighting his eyes.

"Anna?" he gasped. "What are you... why are you... you're a princess! What are you doing here?"

he resented that he appeared to judge her from her title, as if being a princess gave her no right to be here. She couldn't stop herself from snapping back at him.

"Well, you're a criminal! I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?"

Hans stared at her for a moment before his face looked ill once more. Anna quickly placed the glass aside and held out the bucket for him again.

When his vomiting fit stopped, he feebly looked at her and answered with two words:

"Dying, apparently."


	4. Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen

Anna held Hans' glass as he drank the water she offered him. He coughed out loud when he drank too quickly.  She pounded his back until his breathing normalized. He fell back down on the bed, clearly exhausted.

She wanted to ask him a million questions and she could see he was also curious about her. However, she realized, with trepidation that all of that had to wait.  He was too tired and too sick for a questioning.  She knew the effects of the medications he’s been given.  Stressing him out right now was just too inhumane, even for a slime ball like him.

"Sleep," she ordered. "You need it."

He looked like he was going to protest but decided not to. He lay back down and in minutes was unconscious once more.

"He broke your heart, didn't he?" Commandant Cloutier said from the opposite bed. Anna suddenly remembered she was not alone. "What was it? Another woman?"

Anna didn't know what to say. How exactly did one explain that this man deceived her, left her for dead and tried to kill her sister? It wasn't something she felt comfortable talking to a complete stranger.

Commandant Cloutier appeared to understand her hesitation. "Ahhh... a complicated affair then, pretty Anna. You need not tell me if you prefer not to. But come sit by an old man and let him offer you some advice."

Anna returned to the chair next to the French soldier.

"Mon cheri, you need not fret your head. I may not know the circumstances of your relations with this man, but I can tell it is a serious one, not easily brushed aside or forgotten. That is natural and I shall not tell you to do so. However, you have told me you are Madame Bjorgman. I take it Monsieur Bjorgman makes you happy?"

Anna smiled at the thought of her Kristoff. "Yes, very much. We have two children, as blond and lively as their father and I miss them dearly. They're with my sister back home."

"Then you are fortunate in love and I am glad for that. It doesn't lessen the pain that this other man may have inflicted. I can understand if choose never to see him again after tonight and perhaps that will all be better for your heart."

"So I should just leave him here?" Anna asked doubtfully. It did make sense but something about it felt wrong.

"Live your life and be happy without him, if you choose," said the Commandant. "If you harbor any anger or desire for justice against him, living your life happily is justice enough."

Anna sensed there was more to this advice than telling her to simply walk away from Hans' life.

"However,” he continued.   “You may find that peace in your heart will come better if you come to him again. He may not be long for this world and these few days, maybe even hours of his life are all he has left. If you can find it in your heart to be here, to speak to him if you have an opportunity, and settle whatever differences you may have, you may discover something you never knew was restless finally come to peace."

He lay back down on the bed. "You'll forgive an old man if he leaves you now to sleep, will you?"

"Oh of course," Anna replied. She realized it was rather late and she should let the man rest. She readjusted his pillow and covered him with a blanket to make him comfortable.

"Think of what I said pretty Anna," he said. "Let your heart guide you."

"I will, thank you." Anna replied and took her leave, glancing one last time at the sleeping Hans.

She passed by her nursing station to pick up her journal. A thought occurred to her. Grabbing a pen, she opened to an empty page, wrote down the date and scribbled a few lines.

** Prince Hans of the Southern Isles ** \- Alive but injured and seriously ill. Check on his condition tomorrow. If he's still there, talk to him.

***

Anna slept only a few hours and woke up with her thoughts focused on Hans. She got dressed and ate a quick meal. Normally she lingered during breakfast to socialize with her co-nurses but today she headed an hour earlier than her shift. She went straight to room 409.

Commandant Cloutier was still asleep but Hans, she saw, was already up, coughing rather loudly and looking no better than he did the night before. In fact he looked even more ill. He was already out of bed and he appeared to be desperately inching his way towards one corner of the room while cradling his still bandaged torso. Anna knew exactly what was wrong with him and realized there was no other nursing staff to help.

She didn't even give it a second thought. She raced to his intended corner and grabbed the empty chamber pot lying there and brought it next to him in two seconds flat.

"Okay lean on to me, nice and easy so you can sit," she said. She offered him her arm. "Do you need help with your breeches?"

"Anna..." Hans hesitated, clearly embarrassed. "You don't have to... I mean... just get the nurse!"

"I am the nurse!" she thundered back at him as she started loosening his pants.

"This isn't appropriate!" he protested hotly but he was too weak to slap her interfering hands away.

"Proprieties are for ballrooms. If you haven't noticed we're in a hospital where hygiene and health comes first over social rules. You're not the first man I've helped with loose bowel movements and you won't be the last so just let me!"

Hans grumbled something unintelligible but finally allowed her to assist him with his clothes and posture into the pot.  When he was in place, Anna erected a screen to give him some privacy. She then gathered fresh linens and water from a nearby bucket and placed them right outside the screen within his arms' reach.

"Tell me when you're done so I can help you clean," she said.

"You are not wiping my behind!" he exclaimed.

Anna rolled her eyes. Why did he have to be so difficult? "As I told you, you're not the first—"

"I know, I know, I get it!" Hans complained. "I can do it myself!" A pause and then he added more gently: "Thank you."

"Oh... okay then," said Anna. "I’m just a holler away when you need help getting up but I'll leave you for now to... uh... concentrate."

She heard him muffle a laugh with a cough and she couldn't help but let out a giggle. Who would have thought she would end up in this predicament with Hans of all people? She certainly never imagined this most unromantic situation when they first met. In the months after he had betrayed her, she imagined all sorts of punishments she would like to be inflicted on him, but embarrassing him to death was never one of them. The universe perhaps had an odd sense of humor. Hans probably felt like he was being tortured right now by her presence. Well, supposed she can consider that punishment enough for his crime and he didn't deserve to suffer more than that. She decided she would do her best to ease his physical pain. As a nurse, it was her duty to help him.

She heard the sounds of soft splashing and knew he was finishing up. She counted ten seconds then poked her head behind the screen.

"Need help?" she asked.

He scowled at her but didn't protest. He was obviously too weak to get up and get dressed himself. Anna helped him back into his trousers then assisted him back to bed.

Breakfast was being carted in by one of the nursing aids room by room.  Anna grabbed a bowl of broth and placed it before him. He looked at it and shook his head.

"You need to eat something to replace the fluids you've been tossing out or you'll die of dehydration," she said.

"What's the point?" he asked listlessly. "I'm going to die anyway."

Anna glared at him. She may be willing to help him but she wasn't going to tolerate stubbornness. "You're not dead yet." She held up a spoonful of broth as if it was a deadly dagger. "And I'm not letting you even if I have to ram this soup into your throat."

Hans’ eyes widened fearfully at the threat. "My God! I think I really am in hell."

"You are, and I'm going to be your personal devil. Now open up and eat," she said harshly.

Hans heaved a defeated sigh. "It's okay, I can do it myself." He took the spoon from her and began taking the warm broth in small, slow sips. Anna watched him carefully until he was midway through the bowl.

"So why are you even here Anna?" he asked as he took in her work dress and apron. "Princesses shouldn't be working in a place like this. What was Queen Elsa thinking?"

"Your definition of a princess maybe, not mine," Anna replied haughtily. "We're supposed to be helping people, so here I am. And if you must know Elsa approved of me being here to make sure our people are taken care of." She decided it was best to leave out the fact that she had to argue for days with Elsa before her sister allowed her to come here. Elsa didn't exactly approve of Anna working so far away and so near the fighting, especially since her children were also quite young. Elsa only relented when she saw Anna's voluntary joining reassured the families of the men being sent off to war. Anna also didn't care to elaborate that she hadn't exactly had an opportunity to personally care for the members of Arendellian fighting forces as those that she encountered here in the hospital were either dead or had been previously treated in other medical facilities and merely passed through on their way home to recuperate. All she had done so far for her were countrymen were make injured and casualty lists, send reports and write condolence letters.

"You're the one who needs explaining," Anna added as way to turn the subject away.

"Didn't Lars send you a letter about my being drafted in the military?" he asked innocently.

Anna lifted an eyebrow at him _. So he wants to be evasive. Well he isn’t going to get away that easily from me._

"I know about that. What I don't know is why you are hiding behind a fake name. Care to tell me?"

Hans stared at her with a bewildered look. He put down the bowl on the table beside his bed. "I beg your pardon. What exactly do you mean?"

"Hah! Don't you dare play innocent," Anna scoffed.

He still looked puzzled so Anna decided to state the obvious.

"Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen. That's the name you've been using since you joined the military. What kind of name is that anyway?"

Hans looked even more baffled. "It's my name," he said matter-of-factly.

"No it's not!"

"It is!" he argued.

"You can't try to fool me. I know your name."

"Okay fine, what is my full name then if you're so smart?" he challenged.

Anna huffed. "It's Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

"Uh-uh," he shook his head. "Technically, I'm no longer a prince so that's no longer accurate. Hans is a shortened version of my real name Johannes Kristian."

"So you lied to me when you introduced yourself as 'Hans' when we met," Anna accused.

"Hans is the nickname I was given by my family. It is acceptable to introduce oneself with a shortened version of your Christian name. I don't recall you introducing yourself as Princess Annanina Maria Kristine Therese Oldenburg."

Anna saw his point. Her own name was quite a mouthful to say it felt rather snobbish to do so when introducing herself to people she just met. It didn't escape her notice either that Hans actually knew her full name even without her ever mentioning it to him.

"Yes, I actually know your full name," he said as if he read her mind. "I did my research before I came to Arendelle as any person on a diplomatic mission to meet royalty ought to do. But going back to the subject of my name, you forgot my last name."

"I did not forget your last name!" she exclaimed just to get a word out. She didn't like how he implied she was unprepared to meet diplomats during Elsa's coronation.

"Alright, what's my last name then?"

Anna opened her mouth to retort but closed it again as she realized she had nothing to say. _What was his last name?_

"'Of the Southern Isles' is not my last name," he teased with an annoying grin that infuriated her even more.

"I know that!" Anna said though a few seconds before she was about to say 'Of the Southern Isles.'

"What is it then?"

"It's uh... uhmmm..."

"You have no idea, do you?" he said with a knowing waggle of his eyebrows.

"Fine! I don't remember, but it's not Jorgenbjorgen because I would have remembered a frivolous name like that."

The corners of his mouth turned up into a most irritating grin. "My last name was Westergaard. As a princess of Arendelle you should know that. 'Westergaard' is the family name of the ruling house of the Southern Isles for more than 800 years. Our families have intermarried for centuries."

Anna hated to admit he was right. Arendelle and the Southern Isles were so close geographically and had always maintained bonds extended through marriage. If she bothered to trace her family tree, she wouldn't be surprised if Hans was her distant cousin several times removed. Right now though, Anna wasn't willing to let him get the upper hand, especially since he added salt to the wound by emphasizing that she was inept at remembering names she ought to know. "Don't try to change the subject! You lied about your last name."

"I did not. I said my last name was Westergaard. It isn't anymore, not for the last four years. My brother, the king, forbade me from using it as a condition of my sentence being reduced if I served in the military. It was erased from all my records along with my title. I had to use my mother's maiden name, Jorgenbjorgen and it has been my legal name since then."

"Oh," was all Anna could say.

"It was a condition not done out of kindness to me to cover up my crimes," Hans continued. "Contrary to what you might think, retaining the Westergaard name has its advantages. It's too well known that any enemy that captures me would know immediately I had ties to the royal family of the Southern Isles and can have me ransomed for release. Losing the name would mean I had no chance at all to be ransomed. I would blend in more as a common soldier, making me expendable."

"Oh," Anna said again as she realized she had jumped to the wrong conclusions once more and accused him without verifying facts. She realized even more that Hans' punishment from his brothers was even harder than she imagined. To deny him his own family name meant they washed their hands off him and allowed him to die without getting their hands bloody.

_I’m no better than his brothers,_ she realized. _Wasn't that what I wanted back then? For him to die in a cold frozen wasteland alone, friendless and without a family?_

Hans let out another round of coughs and Anna had to pat him on the back again until he stopped.

"Here," Anna offered him a glass of water and he sipped it carefully. His color looked a lot better now but his eyes remained sunken and his face was still pale.

He gave one last cough before muttering: "Thank you." He lay back down on the bed.

Anna took up his bowl. "You should take more of this."

He shook his head weakly.

"Please?" she asked.

"Are you doing this out of pity?" his tone was harsh though he didn't lift his head from his pillow. "You don't have to, you know."

"I'm not," she lied but it wasn't exactly convincing.

"If you must know," Hans went on condescendingly. "The loss of my last name didn't exactly punish me the way my brothers thought it would.  "The anonymity was a good change as it allowed me to move up the ranks in the French military without them thinking my reasons were politically motivated by my family."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Were they?"

Hans smirked at her. "Of course they were. Isn't everything we do politically motivated?"

Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. He just straight up admitted everything he did was still duplicitous. "You have no conscience, do you?" she said angrily.

"It has nothing to do with a conscience. Why feel guilty when I am merely stating a fact? We are born into royalty, Anna. Politics is an integral part of our lives even if we try to choose otherwise."

"Not everything is about power!" she seethed.

Hans scoffed. "So you still believe in fairytale romance and true love then?"

Anna placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "As a matter of fact I do. Maybe I don't believe in love at first sight anymore but with the right person, love can exist, even among royalty."

Hans rolled his eyes. "Like who?"

"Like me and my husband, Kristoff. Of course that's something you can never understand. My marriage with Kristoff is built on love not some political maneuver like you tried to do to me!"

Hans was silent for a moment and Anna felt a surge of triumph that she was winning against him in this argument.

"I suppose you're an exception. You married a commoner with nothing to his name. What else could have made you do it but love?" His words sounded like an admission of defeat but the way he said it still felt like a mockery.

"That's right!" Anna haughtily shot back even as a nagging voice reminded her she married Kristoff rather hastily before word got out she was pregnant. "I'm very happy with my marriage. And not just that, my sister and I love each other and would never do anything to hurt the other over some powerplay."

"Good for you then," he said flatly. "But tell me, just out of curiosity, how is Queen Elsa's marriage? Is she just as happy with Knudsvig?"

Anna felt like she was punched in the gut as she remembered her sister's predicament. Elsa remained married to Knudsvig when the Northern Isles decided to ally with France three years prior. Just last week, Elsa had written that Knudsvig was finally back at Arendelle castle. The King of the Northern Isles apparently heard about his son's estrangement with Elsa and sent emissaries who dragged the errant prince back to his wife to perform his duty of siring heirs. Elsa said nothing in her letter about how she and Knudsvig were getting along under one roof. Anna was apprehensive that with mounting pressure  from the Northern Isles and her own Arendellian advisors, Elsa's marriage was by now fully consummated and in no way ending.

"I take it from your silence that Queen Elsa isn't exactly in a state of marital bliss," Hans said.

Anna still could not answer. Her throat felt constricted and tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"You need not worry, her situation is quite normal," Hans continued offhandedly. "As I said, for most royalty, everything and that includes marriage, is political. Your sister understood that well enough. Her marriage paved the way for establishing security for your people and I applaud her for it. I must admit, I underestimated her ability to clean up the mess from her coronation and the subsequent consequences of it."

_You mean Elsa cleaned up my mess. She offered herself as a sacrifice when it should have been me who took on the duty to marry for an alliance. She paid for my indiscretion with her freedom. My happy marriage was built on her sorrow._

He stared ahead of him and appeared to be loss in thought. When he spoke again there was sadness in his voice. "You may be right Anna. I suppose true love exists. You are fortunate to have found it in a sister... a queen that placed her people first over her own happiness as any responsible ruler should..."

Anna could no longer bear to listen to him. Everything he said was too painfully true. She got up from her chair and narrowly missed the look of confusion on his face as she ran out of the room.


	5. Hans' Secret

_November 21, 1812_

_Warsaw, Poland_

Anna put down the rag she was washing and watched the bubbles at the surface of the water pop one by one. She wished her troubles could be as simple as bubbles, popping into oblivion without an effort. Instead, they just keep multiplying, with each day like the dirt in this rag she was cleaning again and again with no end.

It's been four days since she found Hans in room 409 and stormed out of it in bitter tears. She didn’t dare approach him again and she even denied speaking to him when Fria asked.   In her distracted state she had forgotten to ask Hans if he had heard any news about Kristoff. Even her desperation for news of her husband's whereabouts could not make her approach her former fiance. She kept telling herself she was too angry with him to do so. He was still the same heartless man that betrayed her years ago and he was better off without her company. But she knew the reason she refused to see him was because she was afraid to hear what he had to say. He had discerned her ineptness as a royal and possibly her indiscretion with Kristoff that led her to marry in haste and forced Elsa to take her place.  She had failed in her duty as a princess and she couldn't bear for Hans to judge her. 

Anna shut her eyes to block out the haunting images of her sister at the mercy of her idiotic husband and his insufferable courtiers. It gnawed at Anna that she didn't know how Elsa was faring and the possible danger she was in.

Anna had written a long letter as a response to Elsa’s news last week that Knudsvig had returned to Arendelle Castle.   Anna had asked how Elsa was doing? Was Knudsvig treating her well? Were they getting along?  Were they… well she hadn’t exactly been able to put into words directly the burning question about her sister’s more intimate relations with her husband.  However, she hinted quite obviously that she hoped Knudsvig would be gentler with her or Elsa should just threaten to freeze him.  Anna was about to send the letter yesterday with the latest supply wagon that arrived when another letter from Elsa came to her directly.  Forgetting about her own letter, Anna hurriedly opened and read her sister’s first:

Dearest Anna,

I miss you terribly and I am glad to know you are in good health. I worry for Kristoff every day and pray for his safety and that of our men. We held a funeral service for the latest batch of soldiers that were reported to have died in action. I personally visited their families and assured them they will receive the just pension provided for their fallen fathers, brothers or sons. The orphaned children will also be looked after by the crown.

Your children, I am happy to report are doing very well. Idunn can now recite the alphabet in three languages: Arendellian, French and Latin. I am starting to teach her phrases in German but she appears to be taking to it just as easily. She also started tinkering with the piano. Maestro Lorenzo has agreed to give her lessons.

Agdar, on the other hand, loves hearing stories about the army. He likes to stare at his Papa's portrait and he says he's going to grow up a soldier just like him. I commissioned a small Arendellian uniform for him on his birthday and he likes to wear it while he plays with his toy soldiers. I told him Lord Maledorn is always watching so he should be careful what he tells his soldiers and sister.  He should only talk for now of building snowmen.

We all miss you so much and we hope to see you soon but you need not hurry home. Agdar and Idunn are well and send their love.

Your affectionate sister,

Elsa

The news on her children’s progress brought tears to Anna’s eyes and she spent several minutes just going over those lines that mentioned Agdar and Idunn.  However, when Anna was able to focus on the rest of the letter, she found something puzzling on some parts.  She realized Elsa not did mention anything about how she fared.   Moreover, the end of the third paragraph about her son confused Anna. Lord Maledorn was a villainous character in one of the Flynn Rider adventure tales their father used to read to them. Why make a reference to him? She read and re-read the words until the meaning dawned on her with chilling dread.

I told him Lord Maledorn is always watching so he should be careful what he tells his soldiers and sister.

Elsa wasn't just telling her about her son's imaginative play time.   It was a warning for her. Someone was watching Elsa, intercepting her letters.

Anna quickly checked the seal of the letter and noticed an unusual thicker layer of wax just under it. It wasn't easily noticeable unless one was really looking close enough. It confirmed her suspicions. Someone was reading their letters and resealing them to avoid detection.

Anna understood the next line as an instruction to be careful on what she wrote back:

He should only talk for now of building snowmen.

Write only about positive things. Family affairs, she supposed were safe enough. However, what Hans said to her echoed in her mind:

_Everything, and that includes marriage, is political._

Suddenly, nothing in the world felt safe anymore.  She burned the letter she was to send to Elsa and spent a restless evening unable to compose a different reply to her sister.   By morning, she only managed to scribble a few lines that she was well and glad of her children’s progress and still hopeful of Kristoff’s condition.  It pained Anna that she could not express any sort of comfort for Elsa for fear that anything she might say may imperil her sister.

She went to her shift today in a complete daze.   Even now, as she scrubbed the linen in her hands, her mind was in too much of a jumble she could not even remember if she had already rinsed the cloth before.

"ANNA!" a sharp cry pierced through her thoughts and she looked up to see her nursing superior, Sister Agatha, looking curiously at her.

"Yes?" She muttered softly.

"Are you alright?" the older Frenchwoman eyed her with concern.  Sister Agatha was a middle aged woman with a wide girth and kind bespectacled eyes. She was a Franciscan nun who was as experienced with medicine as she was kind to her patients. When Anna first arrived at the hospital and realized her nursing training only covered the basics that made her inept at her tasks, Sister Agatha was there to mentor her and put her up to speed on the essential medical skills.  Anna and all the young nurses looked up to her as a sort of mother figure.  Right now her sharp eyes were staring at her, aware that something was wrong.

“We can talk about it later,” Sister Agatha said when Anna did not reply.  “There’s a man—a patient in room 409—asking for you.  The nurse there said he may only have a few minutes left and he’s begging to have a word.  Will you come and comfort him in these last few moments of his life?”

 _Hans!_ Anna’s mind quickly thought.  She felt torn with between fear and sympathy, but the sympathy won.  It didn’t matter anymore if he can hurt her.  He was going to die and she might as well say good bye. 

She nodded and followed Sister Agatha to room.  As she walked on the agonizing long path to room 409, she came up with a firm resolve.

_I forgive him, for everything.  I’ll hold his hand and say it.    It doesn’t matter whether or not he apologizes or if he insults me.  He can’t hurt me anymore.  I’ll let him go peacefully and I’ll pray for his soul.  The past doesn’t matter anymore._

Her nursing superior stopped outside the room and held out a hand to her.  “Do you need me to be with you?”

Anna shook her head.  “I’ll be fine.  Will you give me some privacy with him?”

Sister Agatha nodded.  “I’ll ask the staff to clear out.  There are other patients in the room but they’re all asleep.  We can talk about it afterwards, if you need to.”

Anna thanked her for the offer.  Sister Agatha entered the room to tell the other staff to leave while Anna remained at the corridor and used the time to compose herself.  When the room was empty of staff, Anna drew a large breath and entered.

Her gaze immediately focused on Hans’ bed.  To her surprise, his eyes were closed and he looked unconscious.  Her chest pounded.  Was she too late?  Did he die before she had a chance to speak to him one last time?

Then something in her peripheral vision caught her eye.    Commandant Cloutier lay on the opposite bed, pale and gaunt but definitely conscious.  He looked even sicklier than she found him the first time.  Then she realized the awful truth: the dying man asking for her was not Hans.  It was Commandant Cloutier!

She ran to his side and grasped his weak hand.  Tears poured down her cheeks from immense relief that it wasn’t Hans who was dying.  Not yet anyway.   At the same time, she was flooded with anguish that this dear man she barely knew was losing his life instead. 

“P-pretty… Anna,” he whispered in a voice so weak she had to move her head close to his lips to hear.  “Good of you… to come…”

“Of course, I’ll come for you.  I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”

“I don’t mind pretty Anna…  I know why…  That man,” he pointed a weak finger towards Hans.   “He… drove you away.”

“I still should have come for you.  He’s just a horrible mannered person,” she said.

Commandant Cloutier shook his head.  “No… he’s just hurt pretty Anna.  He’s hurt and he doesn’t know how to show it.”

“He can scream if he’s in pain.  We have laudanum for that,” Anna replied in an attempt at a joke, but her tears just kept falling.

The Frenchman shook his head again.  “No, not that hurt.”  He motioned to his chest, tapping at the center of it.  “He’s hurt here.”

Anna caught his meaning.  “Why would he be heartbroken?  He’s the one who broke my heart.”

“Others have broken his,” Commandant Cloutier explained.   “You want to know his secret?” 

He motioned for her to come closer and Anna did so.  She wondered what could Commandant Cloutier knew about Hans more than she did.

“He is jealous of you.”

Anna was confused.  That was the last thing she expected to hear.

“You have love, he has not.  He cannot stand to see you because of it.  So he drives you away.”

Anna stared at the man, unable to speak with astonishment.  Commandant Cloutier had spoken a truth she already knew and yet hearing him say it made her look at it in a new light.  She recalled the way Hans looked just before she left him four days ago.  He was saying something about Elsa.  He was sort of praising Elsa for being a good ruler, a good sister.

_A good sister._

That’s what Hans wanted that he couldn’t have.  She and Hans were both failures.  He failed to win a kingdom through marriage to strengthen the political clout of his nation, and she failed in her duty to marry to secure the safety of Arendelle.   However, even with her failure, Elsa didn’t punish her but took on her burden so she could be free to marry the man she loved.  Hans, on the other hand, was punished by his brothers, left to die without even the name he was born with. 

"As I said before… you may choose to leave… after I'm gone," Commandant Cloutier said.  "He may quietly slip into the night… but if you have the heart..."

"I do," Anna eagerly replied.  "I do and I will take care of him, I promise.  Until his last breath I will be there so he can at least feel that love even for a short time." She meant it wholeheartedly.  She will be like a sister to Hans, the sibling he never had in his life.

Commandant Cloutier smiled.  “I knew you didn't need much convincing.  You are a good soul pretty Anna…  You make this dark world we live in… worth living."

"It's been a privilege to meet you," Anna said as she kissed his hand.

He smiled at her.  "The privilege is mine princess," he rasped.  "I think I shall sleep now."

"Yes, sleep.  I will be here," Anna whispered softly as she watched him close his eyes.  She no longer wondered how he knew she was a princess.  Any of the other nurses might have told him or perhaps even Hans did.  They must have spoken at some point.  Maybe Hans even put him up to Anna speaking with him.  Yet even if Hans did, Anna no longer cared.  She was still going to care for him.  He may be dying but she wasn’t going to let him die alone.

Anna looked into Hans' direction but he still appeared to be sleeping peacefully.  Commandant Cloutier looked the same with his breath heaving constantly.  She decided she will stay. He may yet wake again and speak to her. She will close her eyes just for a minute...

"Anna?"

Anna was startled by someone shaking her.  She immediately recognized Sister Agatha's voice and she realized she had fallen asleep.

She got up, berating herself for sleeping.  She immediately looked to Commandant Cloutier's bed expecting him to be still asleep.  She couldn't see him for her view was blocked by two men covering the bed with white sheets.  Her heart sank for she knew those two men.  They were the ones that took away the dead.

"One of the nurses saw he passed on a few minutes ago," Sister Agatha explained.  "I'm sorry Anna."

Anna went over to the bed and the men stepped aside for her.  Commandant Cloutier still looked like he was just sleeping though the color of his skin had faded.

"Rest well, my friend," she whispered to him as she pressed one last kiss on his receding hairline.  "I'll remember what you said."

She watched as the men wrapped him in linen and took him away.  Sister Agatha was murmuring a prayer under her breath but Anna could only gaze in silence even after the doors to the room closed on them.  She felt a gentle touch on her sleeve.

"It's only three in the afternoon but I think you should go home Anna.  Take an early rest for the day.  The other girls and I can handle things," her nursing superior said softly.

Anna just shook her head, her gaze shifted to the opposite bed where she can see Hans slumbering but with labored breaths.  "Another patient needs me here."

Sister Agatha said nothing but her eyes looked at her knowingly.  "I'll have supper sent up to you this evening."

Anna thanked her and did not even wait for the older woman to leave.  She picked up a fresh towel and poured water into a basin.  She proceeded bathing Hans' heated face, watching as he winced every now and then but he did not awaken.

"I'm here now, Hans,” she told him.  “I'm staying right here."


	6. Memories of a Monster

"Let go... keep away... cold... cold... don't mind cold... keep moving... don't stop... the cold... keep moving... keep your guard up..."

Anna brought the compress on Hans' face to cool him and give him comfort.  He had been muttering incoherently for hours.  It began at ten 'o clock the previous evening.  It was now nearly two in the morning by Anna's estimate.  His temperature had risen drastically and his sleep was troubled but he did not wake up.  Shallow breaths developed into mumbles then went into full length ravings.  Anna barely understood his words.  Sometimes she caught a name or it could be a place but she could not make sense of them.  What seemed clear was his reference to the cold.  It was always the cold and an urging to someone to keep moving.  She speculated that he was remembering something about his more recent journey through the Russian winter.  She had heard enough stories from the other soldiers to imagine what horrors Hans endured that could give rise to his nightmarish delirium.  However, she couldn't help but think of another winter so long ago they both experienced and it brought to mind her own harsh wish for him to die in a cold, frozen wasteland. 

_Oh God, is this how it will end for him?  He will die while imagining himself frozen to death just as I wanted?  Please, please don’t let this end this way. I never meant for him to suffer like this!_ She silently prayed but no answer came to her.  Hans continued to mutter and she could do nothing but sponge him.

Anna felt the weariness of her body that ached for sleep.  Several of her nurse friends have come by and told her to go home and rest but she refused them all.  She couldn’t tear herself away from him now when he could die just like Commandant Cloutier did just mere hours ago while she was unconscious. 

_I promised him I will be here, until his last breath.  If tonight is his last, I will see him through it._

"Keep your guard... end winter... save them... save them all... no harm comes to the queen!"

Anna gasped and almost dropped her towel at Hans' scream.   _Elsa!_   _He's talking about Elsa!_ She shook her head as she reconsidered.    _Elsa’s not the only queen in the world.   It could have been some other queen invading his subconscious mind._

"End the winter... bring back summer... don't be the monster... don't be the monster they fear you are!"

_Oh no!  It is Elsa!_

Anna and her sister had long related to each other their experiences during those long hours of Elsa's disastrous coronation and Elsa mentioned how Hans had saved her from herself.  Anna was remembering it now with a fresh pang in her heart.  Hans’ next words sent a chill down her spine far colder than anything Elsa can come up with as it brought the proof of what Elsa told her before that she never fully believed:

“Don’t die on me… please don’t die… I need you to end this winter… Your people’s lives depend on it…”

  
***

_July 17, 1806_

_Arendelle Castle_

"He's going to hang?" Anna asked as she perused the official report from the Southern Isles on Hans' sentence.

Elsa nodded from the other side of her desk.  "The Southern Isles' penalty for treason is death.  He's scheduled to be executed in a month's time.  King Caleb sent his apologies and hopes that this will heal the relations between our countries."

Anna felt an uncomfortable lurch in the pit of her stomach at such a drastic punishment.  However, when she thought about how Hans gloated at her and admitted so casually that he planned to kill Elsa and later even witnessed him bring the sword to strike at her sister, she couldn't help but feel this was just punishment.  

Elsa was looking at her intently as if she was waiting her to speak.  However, Anna found she had nothing to say.  Was Elsa waiting for her to cheer with this news? Well she suppose, she was internally.  It felt oddly gratifying to know that horrid man was getting punished but she didn't exactly know how to put it into words.

A long silence passed between them and it was Elsa who broke it.  "Anna, I'm considering asking for leniency for him."

Anna stared at her in disbelief.  She expected Elsa was just going to ask her opinion on accepting King Caleb's apology, maybe repeal the trade suspension with the Southern Isles Elsa imposed, but leniency?

"What do you mean?"

"I'm thinking of asking King Caleb to reduce his sentence to life imprisonment.  It's a long standing tradition in the Southern Isles.  A death sentence can be reduced if the person that was offended offered to forgive the perpetrator and sent an official document with a statement of forgiveness."

_Forgive the perpetrator?! Is Elsa out of her mind?_  "Elsa, this man tried to kill you!"  Anna protested.

"I know but... he didn't succeed and I don't want him to die."

"But... a statement of forgiveness? You can't write off what he did to you, to us."

Elsa stood from her chair and began to pace her office.  "I'm not asking them to set him free, just a reduced sentence. Anna, I can't... I can't let him die..."

"But why?  He's dangerous.  He didn't hesitate to strike at us."

Elsa continued to pace and Anna felt a sudden drop in temperature.  Little flecks of snow started to fall from the ceiling of the enclosed study.  Anna quickly stood up and gathered her sister in her arms.  The snow gradually stopped and the room returned to its normal warmth once more.

"What's wrong Elsa? You can tell me," she asked when she finally let go off her sister, though she still held her hands tightly.

"Did you read the interrogation report on the Duke of Weselton's men that Kai submitted?"

Anna glowered at the reminder of those two men that attacked her sister.  Weselton had an existing extradition treaty with Arendelle so Elsa was forced to merely send those two with their equally horrible Duke home.  Once back in Weselton, they were not arrested even with the diplomatic protest sent by Arendelle.  They were even reports that back at their country they were hailed as heroes that narrowly escaped a horrendous ordeal.   The Duke was quite vocal about his experiences in Arendelle and was most likely the one that perpetrated the rumors now circulating in the European courts that Elsa was an evil witch who doomed her own country with her wicked ways.  The ambassador of the Papal States had just cut ties with Arendelle due to such rumors last week.   Had Arendelle been a Catholic country, the Pope would probably have Elsa excommunicated by now. 

"I skimmed through it.  It's all full of lies," Anna grumbled.  "Those two would say anything to save their own skins."

"Perhaps," Elsa said as she pulled away from her hold.  "But not all of it.  Some of what they said was true."

"I don't believe that!" Anna cried out indignantly.  "They just made all that up about you attacking them..."  Anna's voice faltered as she saw Elsa wince.  "Elsa... they were the ones that attacked you in your castle, right?  You were only defending yourself."

"Yes, that's true.  It was self-defense at first..." She paused as if considering her words then continued in a whisper without meeting her eyes.  "But then I retaliated.  I... Anna... I tried to kill them.  I didn't need to.  I already had them both subdued with my ice.  They were no longer a threat but I didn't stop.  I kept pushing one out my balcony and the other I was willing to impale with my ice.  I wanted them dead Anna.  I felt a power like never before, a freedom I never experienced and I was drunk with it.  You can't imagine how that feels... to have the power to punish the people that hurt you."

Anna shuddered at her sister's admission.  Elsa would never hurt anyone unintentionally.  It seemed unbelievable that she was hearing this now.

"It was Hans that stopped me from killing them.  He told me not to be the monster everyone feared I was.  He reminded me of my own humanity at a time when I was willing to let it all go for my own freedom, for that taste of power dangerously mixed with righteous anger.  I owe him that and more."  She turned around to face her and Anna could see rivulets of tears streaming down her cheeks.  "I owe him my life, Anna."

"Your life?" Anna puzzled.  "But he tried to take it."

Elsa shook her head.  "Not at first.  When the chandelier came crashing down on me and I fell unconscious, he saved me from being executed right there.  Not from the Duke of Weselton's men but from the hands of our own Arendellian guards."

"Our own men tried to... No!" Anna exclaimed.  "I read what those Weseltonians said in the report.  They said everyone else wanted you dead.  But that's just a made up story.  You can't believe that!  They were trying to make it appear they're just victims by making it seem the others were just as ready to kill you."

"What they said was true, Anna.  Our own men wanted me dead and they planned to kill me there.  I can't blame them.  They were that afraid of me.  It was Hans that stayed their hand.  He ordered me not to be harmed.  I... I remembered him saying it."

Anna was confused.  "Remembered? What do you mean?"

Elsa began pacing once more, wringing her hands as she did.  "I've been getting flashes of memory of that night after I was knocked out by the chandelier.  Not all of it, just bits and pieces but it’s enough for me to put it together.”

Elsa stopped and sat on the couch.  Anna sat beside her and took her hands and urged her silently to go on.

“I wasn't completely conscious but I remember voices surrounding me.  They were arguing, I couldn't understand much of it and I felt such pain at the back of my right thigh.  I heard someone say they should kill me before I woke up.  Another was saying they should leave me to bleed to death.  There were mutters of 'witch' and 'evil' over and over again.  I can’t recognize them individually but I can tell from their accents.  They couldn’t be the Weseltonians.  They were our men.”

Anna clutched tighter at Elsa’s hands, unsure if she was giving her sister support or was needing support herself.  Elsa squeezed her hands back and continued her tale.

“I saw a flash… the gleam of a sword near my face but it was gone, replaced by shadow.  Then there was a voice... stronger than the others.  He said 'No harm comes to Queen!  We're taking her back.'  The next thing I remembered I was screaming from the pain on my thigh.  Someone poured something on it that stung and that same voice told me I would be alright and that he was sorry for the pain but he was just cleaning my wound.  I realized later that a shard from the chandelier had struck my upper thigh and lodged itself under my skin.   I found the bandage after I thawed the kingdom.  The wound underneath wasn’t very deep, but it could have been fatal if it wasn’t cleaned properly.  That same man who treated me gave me something bitter to drink that made me drowsy but it lessened the pain.   Before I passed out completely, I remembered being carried down my castle steps towards a horse.  He was concerned that I might have bumped my head too hard when I fell.  He said to me:  'Don't die on me.  Please don’t die.  I need you to end this winter...  people’s lives depend on it…'” 

Anna was silent for a moment as she took this in.  "Maybe it wasn't Hans that saved you.  Maybe it was one of our men."

Elsa shook her head.  "It was Hans.   I saw his eyes while he was cleaning my wound and when he carried me to his horse.  I remembered his green eyes from the moment you introduced him."

_Of course it had to be his eyes,_ Anna thought.  She could never forget how his green eyes flashed with madness as he moved to strike at Elsa.  Funny, how she never even took on the color until that moment.  Prior to that, Anna only recalled how his eyes looked dreamy but couldn't even remember the exact shade when Kristoff asked.  Elsa apparently noticed.  She was so much better at remembering little details.

“I can’t forget those eyes,” Elsa went on, as she stared past Anna’s face as if in a daze.  “Seeing them was almost like seeing—”

Elsa abruptly stopped and shook her head and got up from her seat again.

“Seeing what?” Anna asked.

“Nothing, it’s not important,” she said dismissively.  “What’s important is that Hans never really meant to kill me until I told him I couldn’t stop the winter.”

Anna still highly doubted that.  Hans had full-on admitted to her that he planned on killing Elsa.  She didn’t exactly trust her sister’s then addled brain to remember Hans’ words correctly. 

“Elsa, if he said that—and I place emphasis on the “if” here because that could be just the alcohol or whatever it is he poured down your throat, confusing your memories—it just means he doesn’t want you to die because he needs you to stop the winter.  Why would he want the problem of ruling a kingdom that’s buried in snow when he can get you to thaw things for him?  If you had given him back Arendelle in normal summer while he was still in charge of things, he would have killed you and taken over permanently.”

“Perhaps,” Elsa said sullenly.  “Whatever his intentions may be, he still saved my life and probably the lives of others here in Arendelle.  If he hadn’t brought me back when he did, I would probably be dead and half of Arendelle would be too.    It’s only fitting I saved his life.  And I will.” Elsa spoke the last three words with such finality that Anna realized Elsa had made her decision on this even before they spoke. 

“I’m not writing him a statement of forgiveness because I don’t,” Anna said firmly. 

“I understand Anna, and I’m not going to ask you to.  I’ll write it.  I was the one he tried to kill directly.  My statement will be sufficient to save his life.”

“Fine,” Anna said as she crossed her arms in frustration.  It stung that Elsa had already decided this without her permission.  Well, she was the queen, she didn’t exactly need Anna’s permission on this matter and there was nothing she could do about it.  “I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the future.”

Elsa said nothing and Anna decided to just leave her for the moment.  She walked out of the room, her heart still racing with anger.  _He never said that, I’m sure of it.  He’s the real monster.  Elsa just imagined all of that and nothing’s going to make me think otherwise._


	7. The Apology

Everywhere she saw was white.  Strong winds constantly whipped at her small body in every which way that she can barely walk.  The ground was so thick with snow that her boots sank half a foot deep into it with each painful icy step.

"Kristoff!" she desperately cried out but all she can produce was a faint whisper that could not possibly be carried far from where she stood with the wind howling like thunder in contrast.  "Kristoff?  If you can hear me, answer me, please!"

Only the wind answered her, as vicious and noisy as before.

Anna felt so tired and so cold that she just wanted to collapse into the heap of icy snow and sleep but she resisted the urge.  In the distance, she saw figure, dark and large.  She inched her way through the snow until she was within arms-length of it.  It was some sort of large object with one part protruding horizontally at a forty-five degree angle.  She reached one gloved hand to touch it and found it was solid, hard and heavy.

 _Metal,_ she decided.  She felt the length of the object with her hands all the way to the tip where it ended in a hole bigger than the size of her head.   _Cannon,_ she realized.  It was an artillery canon half-buried in the snow.   She can make out the wheels that bore the heavy machinery but only the upper part remained visible.  It was lodged in too deep it could not possibly be moved.  However, the sight of the cannon gave her hope.  Someone must be here.  Perhaps someone can help her.

She used the canon as a handhold to move to the other side.  She gave a sudden whelp as she felt something solid and hard struck her boot.  She peered down carefully and saw a figure lying by the wheel of the other side of the cannon.  To her horror, she realized it was a man—a dead man whose eyes remained open, staring at her with an expression of agony.  She backed away only to bump into something else.  Whirling around, she found another grim figure of death, lying just as grotesque.  At that moment the wind cleared and she could see the corpse more clearly and there was another one beside him.

She backed away, but as she did, an even grimmer picture unfolded. Everywhere she looked there were corpses of men and horses amongst pieces of broken wagons and useless artillery littering the entire snow-covered field.

"W-what happened here?" she asked to no one in particular.

She felt someone grab her shoulder and she pulled away in panic but the grip merely tightened.

"Calm down! Calm down! You're alright but you won't be if we don't move along," a man's voice called out.   Anna immediately stopped struggling and noticed whoever held her was definitely alive.  She felt enormous relief on finding a companion.   This strange man was quite tall but wrapped heavily in winter clothes from head to foot that only his eyes were uncovered.  His height reminded her of Kristoff when they first met and she felt a surge of hope.

"Are you daft soldier? Move or you'll end up like them!" the man commanded.

Anna felt offended at being rudely shouted at but obeyed him anyway _.  He's just trying to save me,_ she reasoned.  _When we're safe away from here, he'll apologize._

"Here, boy lean on to me," he offered.  Anna accepted the help and ignored his reference to her as a boy.  He probably couldn't see past through her coverings either to notice she was a girl.  She realized she was wearing breeches and a military uniform jacket similar to the one worn by Kristoff when he left with the army.  It didn't strike her as odd that she was wearing men’s clothes and she didn't bother to correct his mistake.

They silently trudged on together for what seemed like hours through the desolate ice field yet the trail of bodies never ended.  She didn’t even know where they were going.  They could be going in circles but she had no choice but to follow his lead as she didn’t know what direction to go.

"What happened here?" she finally asked him.

"Don't you remember? The Russian winter killed the remnants of our army.  You are looking at the Emperor's last men, the conquerors of Moscow." There was no sarcasm in his tone, only a deep sadness of a man who was defeated and knew it.  

"So much life gone," he went on.  "So much life and it's all because of me.  I caused this.  My ambition caused this."

Anna pulled away and stared at him intently.   _Was this Emperor Bonaparte?  But that can't be._   

Anna had met with the Emperor personally at a ball in Prussia before the army left.  As a princess of an allied country, she had the privilege of dancing with him.  He might have been larger than life but his height certainly wasn't higher than hers.  Anna was no midget by European standards but he didn't exactly tower over her. 

“Who are you?” she asked him.  “Why would you think you’re to blame for this?”

He didn’t answer her but urged her with a gesture to keep walking.  The wind was once again picking up and sent flurries of snow all over them, making it difficult to see.  However, Anna remained where she was.  “Who are you?” she repeated.

“A man condemned!” he shouted over the growing storm.  “I was cursed by a woman I betrayed to walk this frozen wasteland, watch as my men… my friends all die before me in cold and starvation and there’s nothing I can do.”

The wind whistled above them and Anna felt herself sinking with the weight of the cold.  Her legs could no longer hold her and she collapsed to her knees and was immediately buried to the chin in snow.  She could feel the cold seeping down to her bones and she felt the allure of sleep even harder to resist.

“No!  I won’t lose another!” the strange man cried out as he came to her.   “Get up soldier!  Get up!  Walk with me!  I’ll take you home!”

But Anna could not even lift a finger.   Everything was just too heavy.  The man used his own hands to dig her out.  He scooped her in his arms and carried her.  He raced through the snow storm but the wind was too strong for him.  Finally, his legs gave way too.  He lost his hold on her and she fell back into a mound of ice.  She cried painfully at the renewed shock of the cold.

“Stay with me soldier! Stay with me!” he cried out as he crawled towards her.  He took off his scarf so he can place it on her shoulders and that’s when she saw his face. 

_Hans!_

She wanted to cry out but she couldn’t.  She felt so weak and her vision was starting to blur.

“Don’t die on me!  Please don’t die!” he pleaded at her but she didn’t have the strength to respond.    He raised his eyes to the heavens and shouted once more.   “I need you to stop this winter!  Elsa please!  I’m the monster!  Not you!  It was never you!  Help me end this!”

The storm answered him with another fierce wind that brought him down once more.  He knelt by her side, his green eyes pleading with her as he spoke:  “Don’t die please…  Open your eyes, soldier… open your eyes…”

Anna opened her eyes and slowly felt the stiffness in her joints.  The cold was completely gone but it took her a moment to realize she was not in a frozen wasteland anymore.  She was dreaming.  That's all it was, just a dream.  Slowly, the images from her nightmare began to fade to give way to the stiffness of her neck coupled with the wet stickiness on her chin that told her she had been drooling again while asleep.  

"Ugh!" she groaned audibly as she slowly lifted her heavy head.  She was used to waking up sore and stiff from long hours of standing and moving about while taking care of patients but stiff necks happened only on nights she fell asleep by a bedside.  It clued her in that she had pulled an all-nighter once more from nursing a dying poor soul.

"Morning sleeping beauty," a familiar voice startled her that she fell off the chair she was half sitting on and landed hard on the floor.

“Owww!” she groaned.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to surprise you," the same voice apologized.

Anna picked herself off the floor and found Hans very much alive, looking completely warm and staring at her with a look of shock as if he had seen the apocalypse rising from the heavens.  

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head as if to clear it.  "Errr... uhmmm... hair..."

Anna realized she woke up with her infamous wild bed-head again.  The first time Elsa slept next to her after their reconciliation, her sister woke up the next day screaming, as she thought Anna's hair was some hairy beast that crawled into the bed beside her.  Hans, obviously, reacted in a similar manner upon seeing her crowning glory. 

Self-consciously, Anna began finger-combing her hair and wiping the obvious drool on her chin.  She winced when she realized her saliva left a part of his sheets with a stain that Hans quickly noticed with an obvious wince of disgust.  He did not even bother to look away from her but kept on staring at her while she tidied herself.

_Darn it! He's the one who's been puking his guts out for days, had fevers that make him toss and turn endlessly at night, had been to brink of death and hasn't had a decent bath in weeks but his hair still manages to look good in its rumpled state.  I just sleep and I become the hairy drooling wonder.   There is no justice in this world!_

"Anna?" he whispered uncertainly.  "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you.  "I thought it was one of the other nurses."

Anna glared at him as she remembered the flirtatious tone of his first greeting.  He immediately looked apologetic and she decided to let it go though she handled him rather roughly as she felt his forehead and neck for his temperature.  

"Your fever's easing," she said as evenly as possible.  Inwardly she was overjoyed that he at least survived the night.  However, now that he was again conscious, Anna felt the awkwardness of being alone with him once more after their last encounter.  “How long have you been awake?” she asked without meeting his eyes.

“A few minutes, probably half an hour, I’m not sure,” he replied.  “I didn’t want to wake you.”  There was a long paused and then he added:  "You stayed with me all night?”

Anna nodded.  

"I... apologize if I said something that might have hurt you the last time I was here," he said carefully. 

Anna kept silent.  She didn't want to admit that he struck a sensitive cord at her that time.  

He swallowed hard and looked away from her.  "I suppose that's not the only thing I should be apologizing for."

"No it's not," Anna blurted out.  

He heaved a deep sigh.  "I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness.  What I did was unforgiveable.  I understand if you still hate me.  If it’s worth anything to you, I’m sorry for lying and taking advantage of you and I’m sorry I tried to kill your sister.”

Anna had waited so long for him to hear those words.  She had imagined so many times what she would say back to him.  She would berate him, tell him he was a pompous ass, a no good horrible person who deserved everything he got.  She would call him a million horrible names and make him apologize over and over again until she was satisfied.   She would order him to crawl to Arendelle on his hands and knees and beg her sister for forgiveness then tell him just for good measure that his penance would never be enough.  She could have written an entire book with the long list of punishments she had thought of to impose on him.  However, at this moment she could not think of a single thing to say.  She didn’t know exactly how to feel about his apology.  She had expected to feel satisfied when he said it, triumphant even.  Now, she realized, she didn’t feel any of those.

“You should go,” he said.  “Get some rest.  You don’t have to waste your time on me.   I’m not worth it.”

 _He’s driving me away again,_ Anna thought as she recalled Commandant Cloutier’s words.  _No, I won’t let him do that.  A good sister, that’s what I’ll be to him, no matter how short that time may be._   _His fever may have broken but it’s no sign he’s going to survive this.  I’ve seen men improve then relapse back just as easily and end up in the grave within a few days.  I’m staying with him until the end, whatever that may be._

She stared at him and gave him a wan smile.  “Sorry, I’m the duty nurse assigned to you.  Not allowed to leave you just yet.”

She saw a flash of fear in his eyes.  _Okay, maybe I’m punishing him, just a little with my presence._ She couldn’t help but give him an evil grin.  “First order of business this morning, do you need help to the chamber pot?”

He buried his face into his hands but she could see the deep blush that colored up to his ears.  Finally, he muttered faintly without showing his face: “Yes.”

“Good,” Anna said more enthusiastically that she intended to.  She went around the bed so she can assist him in getting up.  “Okay let’s go,” she said as she grabbed hold of his shoulders.

Hans followed her lead but didn’t dare look at her on the short trip to the corner of the room where the usual pot lay.  By the time Anna got around to loosening his clothes, his face was already as red as his hair.  When he was finally encased in the private screen, Anna paused to contemplate the situation. 

_So maybe he wasn’t really trying to drive me away, he just needed me out of here as fast as possible so I don’t embarrass him when he needs to do his private business.  Perhaps he thought apologizing for what he did is the quickest way to get me out the room.  So does that mean his apology isn’t really sincere? Maybe he just really needs to go.  Okay note to self: If you really want a sincere apology from this man, don’t expect for it when he has more pressing bodily functions to attend to.  He’ll say anything._

She waited for him to finish then assisted him back to the bed.  Once there, she started checking his bandages and saw that they needed changing.

“Anna, I can wait for the next nurse to come by later to do that,” he said when he realized what she was about to do.  “You don’t have to do this.

“I do,” she replied as she met his eyes and this time he didn’t look away.

“Why?” he asked, genuine confusion marring his features.

“I don’t need a reason why.”

“Everyone has a reason.”

“I’m not everyone,” Anna replied matter-of-factly.  “I’m just me.”

“Just you?” he asked in that same tone he said it when they first met.  Something in his eyes lit up but he looked away before she could tell what it was.  “Anna I…”

“Just shut up! I’m already here, there’s no use waiting for someone else,” she ordered in a harsher tone than she intended.   It apparently worked for he no longer said a word of protest after that.

She prepared the dressings then carefully removed his old bandages.  She saw that his injuries were indeed quite nasty.  The skin of his chest were marred by old scars from what she could tell were gun-shot wounds.  He had fresher wounds from shrapnel and his shoulder was still raw from the stitches that were reapplied quite recently.   There was no sign of infection and he looked to be healing well enough.   She soaked a towel in hot water and began cleaning his wounds.  She handled it as carefully as she could but he still hissed at the pain.  She had to admire his control.  Most men would have screamed themselves hoarse with the kind of pain he must be feeling.

She worked as quickly as possible in silence.  She spoke again only when she began replacing fresh bandages on his torso. 

“Look if you want to thank me, you can do it by telling me something.”

“Alright… what do you want to know?” he asked tentatively.

“My husband, Lieutenant Kristoff Bjorgman.  He’s assigned to the 26th light infantry regiment along with the majority of the Arendellians that were conscripted.  Do you know anything about him or any of the other Arendellians?”

Hans looked away and said nothing.

“Hans? Do you know anything?” she repeated.

“I was assigned to the cavalry, made up predominantly of French and Polish officers.  I was the only one from the Scandinavian region who was part of it.   My brothers made sure I wasn’t assigned to a regiment where I was well-known. I don’t cross paths often with infantry regiments from our region,” he replied without meeting her gaze.

“But certainly, you’ve encountered some of them.  If not an Arendellian, perhaps you’ve met someone from the Southern Isles or Weselton or the Northern Isles who may have mentioned something?”

“It was a big army Anna.  There are thousands of men.  Our retreat from Moscow was… chaotic.  It’s hard to keep track of regiments.  It’s even harder to identify individual men that make up each regiment.”

“Oh…” Anna said slowly.   “So you haven’t heard anything?”

He was silent again for a long moment before he slowly turned to face her.  “It’s difficult to get any news from anywhere.  But I hope he’ll turn up soon.”

Anna nodded dejectedly.    _That was it.  There was still no news of Kristoff._

She finished binding his wounds just before the familiar bell rang that announced there were new patients coming in.  As much as Anna wanted to stay with Hans, she knew it was her duty to help out where she was needed most.  Besides, a fresh batch of patients means another chance to find someone who might know about Kristoff.

“I should go,” she said.  She stood to leave but Hans held her arm to stop her.

“Anna… I…” he hesitated but Anna understood what he was trying to say from his expression. It was an apology, for real this time.

She shook her head.  “Save it for next time.  I’ll be back tonight,” she said simply.

He nodded and gave her a small smile. 

She took her leave of him and it was only in the corridor that she realized with a lightening of her heart why she stopped him. 

_I don’t really need an apology from him.  Not anymore._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of historical trivia for you: Napoleon Bonaparte was rumored to be short (that’s where the famous term “Napoleon complex” came from) but in reality he had average European height at 5 feet 7 inches. However, Anna I can surmise is also quite tall at about the same height. I based it on the estimate that both Hans and Kristoff are actually quite tall (6 feet 2 inches by my estimate) and Anna is a little more than half a foot shorter than both.
> 
> I checked the French military ranks during the Napoleonic era and I assigned Hans the rank of a Colonel, which is just one rank below a Brigadier General, and four ranks higher than his original rank of Captain when he was reinstated in the military—an indication he had risen in the French military ranks quite fast in the four years he served. As a prince, Hans would have had military training in the Southern Isles navy but he would have been reassigned to the army when he was conscripted to the French forces. Hans’ ability as a horseman and a capable shot makes him ideally suited to the cavalry—a more elite position than the infantry. This gives him more opportunities to interact with the higher ranking officers in the French military.
> 
> Kristoff, on other hand, despite his title as a prince of Arendelle, is not likely to rise higher than lieutenant (this is one rank below a Captain) at this stage of his military career since he would not have sufficient military training prior to being conscripted. I do not see Arendelle as a country with a strong military force, so most Arendellian recruits would end up in the infantry with rather low ranks.


	8. The Persistent Suitor

_Warsaw, Poland_

_December 3, 1812_

 

"I am not taking any more of that!" Hans hissed adamantly as he shook his head and kept his lips closed as if he was afraid Anna would ram the pill down his throat.

Anna couldn't blame him.  She had half a mind to grab him by the chin and force his medicine down.  He was being stubborn and Anna was nearly at the end of her rope.  She discovered last night that he had stopped taking his medications for over a week.  Apparently, he had managed to sweet talk the nurse on duty that usually administered his regular medications into not taking it.  It was no wonder he was no longer purging whenever she visited him.

Hans slowly became part of Anna's routine in the hospital.  She checked him in the morning, helped him with his hygiene and stayed with him while he ate his breakfast. After her shift, she always dropped by for a few minutes to ensure he was not running a fever and he was comfortable before he fell asleep.  It began simply as her way of checking at the state of his health but as days went by and he grew stronger, she kept staying longer just for conversation.

They avoided topics about their past.  The sincere apology she suspected he was going to give her that morning she woke up next to him was never uttered.  Instead, they mutually kept up a stream of lively chatter on seemingly mundane things.  She now knew his best friend's name is Sitron (his horse) and his favorite food are sandwiches (at least she got that right) made out of rugbrod and pickled herring with multiple layers of cheese.  She usually related to him about her day or he would share tales about his experiences in the French military.   He spoke of his previous exploits at sea, his brushes with the British navy and his daily tasks of charting courses and working around weather patterns.  She told him of her friends in the hospital, her training on bed making, wound dressing and stitching.  Once, they even traded tips on making splints for broken bones and patching minor wounds.  He had his fair share of treating wounds in the field of battle and he played the medic on the occasion when the surgeons were too busy dealing with the more serious injuries.

Today was the first time they clashed openly and Anna had half a mind to hit him hard for being so pigheaded over a simple thing.  

"You need the mercury to get well!" Anna insisted. "The doctor ordered..."

"I don't care what the doctor ordered! That pill is poison, I'm sure of it.  I've had six roommates since I arrived here.  All of them have taken that mercury and none of them have gotten any better.  In fact all of them are dead after days of diarrhea, vomiting and hallucinating they're still in a war zone."

Anna winced at that last one.  She also assisted with the other pneumonia patients that slept in the same room as Hans after Commandant Cloutier passed away.  She witnessed how each poor soul already suffering through their weakened bodies descend into a sort of madness with a frightening delirious fever.  Some cried out randomly in fear while referring to figures in the room that were not there.  Others would throw angry fits.  One almost maimed a nurse that tried to help had Hans not shouted orders military style for the soldier to stand down.  The doctor said that was normal for men with illness.  Hans had gone through a similar, albeit tamer phase for three days before calming down.

"Well you're still here, you've gotten better," Anna argued.

"Because I haven't been taking it! I'm not even sure the science of purging out the bad humors or whatever it is that causes pneumonia is sound.  If it does help, I think I've purged enough of the bad."

"We can't know that," Anna said.

"I'll take my chances on food, water and your excellent company."

Anna was about to put up another argument but shut her mouth instead as what he said sank in.  "My excellent company?"

"Better than mercury and has the benefit of being entertaining," he said with a flirtatious grin that was sure to melt any young naive girl who didn't know how treacherous his smiles were.

_Oh hell, I already know how treacherous he is and the grin is still working!_ She thought as she fought to keep herself from smiling back at the flattery.

"You're not sweet-talking me into not taking your meds," she said.

"No, but you can listen to reason," he said seriously.  "I'm feeling better, Anna, I swear.  If I'm really going to die, just let me.  I don't want to spend my last days as a raving lunatic and that mercury will surely do that to me if I keep taking it."

Anna sighed.  She didn't want to watch him descend into madness either and she can see sense in what he said.  She suspected from all the deaths she had witnessed that the medicines did have that effect.

"So what do we do now?" she grumbled.

"Tell me about your favorite chocolate candy," he said casually, the grin still plastered on his face and something about that expression made her think twice.

_He's playing it safe.  He doesn't want to talk about things that are uncomfortable to him so he distracts me with other things. Maybe I should just let him.  At least we could be civil to each other this way.  But maybe it's time we went beyond that.  If he's going to die, I need to know some things for my own peace of mind._

"How about you tell me something instead," she asked tentatively.

"Fire away," he replied as he lay back down, his arms pillowed on his head casually.

"Why did you come to Arendelle?"

His expression looked worried for a split second that if she hadn't been watching him closely she would have missed it for he carefully schooled his features to its usual nonchalance.  "I thought it was pretty obvious.  My family wants to strengthen diplomatic relations from a country that had long been an ally.  Attending the coronation of a new monarch is standard royal protocol for re-establishing relations.   I happened to be the one available at the time among my brothers for that courtesy call."

"A courtesy call where you try to kill the new queen?" Anna muttered before she can stop herself.  She immediately regretted it.  _I'm supposed to be civil to him and I bring that up so harshly he might just clam up again._

Hans however, didn't appear bothered by her outburst.  He sat up to be at eye level with her.  "I wasn't really planning to kill Elsa when I first arrived.  The plan was to marry her."

_Then kill her?_ She itched to ask but she refrained from saying it out loud.

"I can see it in your face you're wondering if I planned to kill her after I marry her," he said.

Anna gulped audibly.  _Am I that obvious? Well no point in trying to hide it now._ "Were you?" she asked.

"Well I didn't.  Why would I need to?  As her husband, I would have a secure place of power by her side.  She could give me children who will inherit the throne. I would have treated her well and I would have made the best out of a marriage of convenience. I imagined we could have liked each other eventually.  I certainly was inclined to.  She's definitely easy on the eyes, a rare beauty no man in his right mind would say no to."

"And yet you did and went after me instead," Anna said sarcastically.  She had no delusions of being more attractive than her sister.  From early childhood, Anna was aware people often considered Elsa the prettier, more charming, and more intelligent sister.  She was favored by everyone from their governess, to their tutors, and even by their Papa.  He used to call Elsa his precious tulip.  Anna never received a floral pet name but she bet if Papa had come up with one she would have been named a whitlow grass.  It didn't lessen her love for her sister.  It was the way things were and she accepted that long ago.  However, Hans did strike a nerve with her when he revealed that Elsa was preferable.  The same feeling of hurt was resurfacing now as she recalled that the only reason why Hans proposed to her was because she was easy.  "Just tell me one thing," she said bitterly.  "Why didn't you just pursue Elsa?  Why didn't you just court her properly if you wanted her so badly?"

"Who says I didn't?" he replied.

Anna was confused.  "Well you said so that night in the library."

He shook his head.  "I said no such thing.  I said nobody was getting anywhere with her.  How do you think I know that?  I was speaking from experience."

Anna was even more confused. "What?  Are you telling me you courted her before?”

“Yes, I did, in the most honorable ways possible.”

“How could you possibly have had a chance to court her?” Anna doubtfully interjected.   “She never came out until the day of her coronation."

"Exactly my point, but that didn’t mean I didn’t try.  For three years, from the time your parents died, I wrote to her.  It started with a condolence letter and a formal request to pay my respects.  I followed it with appointments to visit her to establish our country's relations, and letters of introduction from the Southern Isles ambassador to Arendelle.  I tried every single diplomatic channel I could access just for a chance to meet her.  All of them were politely turned down by your minister, Kai. When the formal route didn't work, I wrote to her personally of my intention for a formal suit.    The move was directly rebuffed again.  Kai's reply said Princess Elsa will receive no suitors until she was crowned.  I didn't care, I still wrote her sheets and sheets of letters but most of them just returned to me unopened.  I wasn't the only one who got turned down.  A few of my brothers have also tried.  I've also heard several royal courtiers across the region have pressed their own suits including Knudsvig's father on behalf of his son.  Everyone got the same polite but dismissive replies.  Are you even aware of Elsa's reputation during the three years she was a queen-in-waiting?"

Anna shook her head.

"The Queen of Isolation—that was what the social circles of European royalty called her.  No one seems to have seen her since she was eight years old.  People speculated that she had a physical deformity and was kept hidden away on purpose.  Others believed she was already dead and that her regent Kai, was not confirming it because he wanted power for himself.  I wasn't satisfied with just rumors so I went to Arendelle myself."

"You've been to Arendelle before?" Anna asked.

"Your sister's coronation was my third visit there.  I first came when I was sixteen while I was serving in the Southern Isles navy.  We briefly docked into the Arendelle port as a stopover on the way to Sweden.  I spent most of the time there just admiring the fjord and the mountains. I had a chance to talk to people at the port and they told me the gates have been closed for years and that no one has seen both you and Elsa.  Most of the people I spoke to thought you were sent off to some boarding school abroad so no one really thought it was odd you never made a public appearance.”

“Elsa told me Papa made up that rumor among the Arendellians when we were younger.    That’s why no one asked why we didn’t appear at public gatherings,” Anna explained.

“I suppose it was an effective strategy,” Hans continued.  “But it wasn’t exactly going to remain so once your parents had passed on.  A queen-to-be, even if she’s underage, needs to be seen by her people or they begin to wonder.  I wanted to know too, so I came to Arendelle a second time a year after your parents died.    Again, I tried to gain an audience personally.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who did. There were three other royal suitors that came knocking into Arendelle’s castle with me.   Kai received us warmly, but in the end he sent us away with excuses that Elsa was not seeing anyone until she was of age.”

“So you gave up after that?” 

Hans scoffed.  “No, I wasn’t even close to giving up.  All the others suitors have given up on Elsa by then, even my brothers.  They were all content to find some other royal brides in other kingdoms.  But I didn’t.  I stayed in Arendelle for three weeks and I kept writing her which got me nowhere as usual.   I changed tactics.  I bribed the local florist to send her flowers.  I did the same with the baker to send her sweets.  I even tried bribing the stable hands to let me in but apparently they were just too loyal to their service and alerted Kai about me.   You know that minister of yours is a tough nut to crack.”

Anna couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Kai.  The man was such a sweet father-figure but he can go head to head with the best diplomats in the world and win.

“So when none of my efforts got through the door, I wrote her a poem and sent it via a white dove directly to her window—or at least, what I figured might be her window.   The information is a little scant on that one.”

Anna’s heart pounded at his mention of a white dove.  She remembered she once found a dead white dove in a small puddle below Elsa’s window.  There was a note attached to the leg of the poor creature but it had gotten partially wet that when Anna opened it, she could only discern some of the words.  Both the addressee’s and sender’s names were rendered unreadable with water stains along with the last two lines of the body of the text of what was clearly a poem.    She had asked the entire castle staff but no one seemed to have any idea where it came from or to whom it was intended for.  The words of the poem were so beautifully written that Anna was mesmerized with them that she committed them to memory.  It came back to her now:

 

"As I watch the changing colors of the borealis

I dare to seek the wonder of an unseen goddess

This precious gem may have been hidden away

But in my dreams she haunts and begs me to stay

 

“What power does she possess that draws me near?

A pull so strong, her unknown nature I do not fear

My heart she has captured frozen and solidly hooked

And she has done it without even a smile or a look 

 

“Come down from your mountain and let me gaze at you

Bring sun to my winter, reawaken me anew”

Hans stared at her in surprise as she recited the words from memory.  His expression told her plainly that he was the author and he confirmed it by uttering the last two unreadable lines she had been pondering on for years:

 

“For I am near death with a cold that won’t let me be

Only through your presence can I be set free”

“It was you!  You wrote that poem for Elsa?” Anna declared.

“Did she read it?” he asked hopefully.

Anna considered the situation where she found the dove and realized the truth of what happened.  She shook her head.  “I don’t think she ever did.  I found the poem still tied to the leg of a dead dove near Elsa’s window.  I think she must have accidentally frozen it— and no! Uh-uh!” She shook her head as it was clear from Han’s pout what he was imagining.  “I don’t think Elsa froze that poor dove deliberately just to spite you.  She never would have harmed an innocent creature like that.  She just didn’t have any good control of her powers and they go awry most of the time.  That dove was just an unfortunate victim.  She was probably wasn’t even aware of the note.”

Hans heaved a sigh.  “It was just as well.  She probably would have thought it was juvenile at best and rather crude.  She probably would have laughed at it.”

_Crude? Juvenile?  It was one of the most romantic poems I’ve ever read and it had me imagining for years what it would be like to have someone secretly fall in love with me even though he has never seen me!  It’s the one poem that had me wanting to find “the one” when the gates finally opened.  I had always imagined that poem was meant for me sent by my anonymous waiting prince charming.   Of all people why did Hans have to write that? And he didn’t do it out of love but just a way to get at my sister!_

“You liked it, didn’t you?” A sly grin formed on Han’s lips.

Anna didn’t like his expression one bit and was instantly determined not to give him the satisfaction. “No, don’t!  Especially now that I know those were just meaningless words to get Elsa’s attention.” 

“Of course, my mistake,” Hans said offhandedly.  “I mean you hate it so much you had it memorized even after what? Nine years?  I couldn’t even remember most of what I wrote then but apparently you do.   Every word of it.”  He waggled his eyebrows knowingly at her.

 Anna glared at him but chose to say nothing.

“Okay, the point is, if Elsa had given me just a tiny bit of a chance, I probably would have pursued her.  I got nothing for my efforts on those three weeks in Arendelle and I was summoned back to my duties to the Southern Isles navy so I had to leave.  And before you say anything, I did try one last time on her coronation.  I was in Arendelle for three days even before coronation day.  I befriended a lot of the guards and I met with the same flower shop workers I bribed two years before who were delivering flowers to the castle on the day of the coronation.   They let me in through a side gate early in the morning of that day.  I was wandering through the hallways of the castle wondering how to go about introducing myself, when Elsa appeared before me.”

“Wait? You’ve met Elsa before even the gates opened?”  This was something new that not even Elsa mentioned to her.

“I couldn’t exactly call it a meeting.  It was more of a run in.  I mean literally, there was running involved—from her side, not mine.  When she saw me, she stared for like a half a minute as if she saw a ghost.  I tried to introduce myself properly.  I mean I was carrying flowers and everything, but she just moved back and demanded from me quite rudely what I was doing there as the gates don’t open for another hour.   I tried to apologize and explain that I was just there to meet her but I don’t think she even listened.  She just turned around, ran towards the nearest room and quite literally slammed the door on my face.”

“She was just scared she might freeze you.  I’m sure she didn’t mean to be rude,” Anna defended.

“How was I supposed to know that?”  Hans asked sarcastically.  “I figured, she thought I was just some servant delivering flowers who’s not worth her time.”  He paused to heave a sigh.   “Anyway, after that, I decided to give her up as a hopeless case.  I got out of the castle the way I came before she deemed it fit to send guards to haul me out and possibly charge me with trespassing.  I mean by then, I decided that’s something she would most likely do.  My brothers would do that in a second to anyone beneath them.  How would she be any different? I was just riding around the village on Sitron, nursing my bruised ego...”

“When you bumped into me and saw your other chance,” Anna finished for him.  

Hans didn’t reply and an uncomfortable silence stretched between them until Anna decided to break it.

“Look, I don’t think there’s any point anymore to rehashing the past between us.  But I just want to know, why Arendelle?  You said it yourself, all of Elsa’s suitors and even your own brothers gave up.  Why didn’t you?  You could found some other bride with a kingdom easier to court without you needing to resort to deception and murder.”

Hans refused to meet her gaze.  “Maybe I just like Arendelle.”

“And why is that?  Granted, to me it’s my home. I’d fight to keep it.  But to you, it’s just another kingdom.”  Hans noticeably winced and Anna felt that she was hitting at some vital point here.  “Hans, why Arendelle?”

Hans bit his lip as it quivered and Anna knew the answer had some significance and she just had to know what it was.

“Hans?”

“Leave me alone!” he said with sudden burst of anger that Anna was startled.

“Hans?” she asked with some trepidation.  She tried to meet his eyes but he refused to even look at her.

“I’m done talking about this Anna.   Just go away!”

“Hans?”

He faced her and his menacing expression made her shrink away.  “What part of ‘go away’ do you not understand?  Leave!  I don’t want you here!”

“Fine! I’ll go!  Don’t expect me to be back!” she shouted back at him before she marched out of the room.

_I try to be nice, but he’s the one who’s angry, the ungrateful bastard!  Maybe he deserves to be left alone like he wanted.  Well, if that’s what he wants, that’s what he’ll get.  See if I care!_

It was already late and her shift ended hours ago.  She went straight home to her dormitory and decided there was nothing to do but just sleep it off.  However, as she lay in her bed, she found that sleep did not come for her mind refused to think of nothing else but Hans and his sudden change in behavior. 

 She recalled the words of his poem and it struck her as odd that he had managed to compose so many references to Elsa’s affinity to ice even without knowing her secret.  

 

“For I am near death with a cold that won’t let me be

“Only through your presence can I be set free”

 

She whispered the lines over and over again, as if somehow the newly revealed words could give her answers to the mystery of Hans. 

_So many of Elsa’s suitors had given up after years of being rejected but he didn’t despite all the stumbling blocks Kai and Elsa put in his way.  It’s like he’s obsessed with her.  I mean he did say Elsa was preferable because she was the heir but what if it’s more than that?_

A chill crept up her spine as an odd theory came to her.

_What if Hans really was in love with my sister?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mercury is one of those medicines in the 19th century that actually does more harm than good but doctors relied on them then as there wasn’t much solid knowledge on how pharmaceuticals work on human physiology. Infection was not understood in full at that time and the prevalent belief was that body should maintain a balance of humors or bodily fluids. People believed that getting an illness like pneumonia could be cured by getting rid of the excess bad humors, thus purging was common treatment which led to some major dehydration and death. So in this story, Hans actually survives due to his own skepticism of the prevalent treatment and by sheer stubbornness.
> 
> One of the things that I thought about when I saw Frozen was how King Agdar managed his own people’s curiosity on Elsa and Anna’s isolation. I suppose not seeing members of the royal family by the common people on a regular basis was not that unusual in the 19th century, but I think the complete lack of a public appearance for thirteen years would have sent some tongues wagging, especially since we know from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure that the royal family did appear publicly at least once a year to ring the Yule bell. I figured King Agdar managed it quite simply by releasing a statement that both princesses were in a finishing school abroad. 
> 
> Another thing that bothered me about Frozen was that it made it look like Hans just gave up on Elsa and went for Anna pretty quickly just on the basis that no one had seen the older princess. I mean marrying the spare then murdering the heir seems like a more complicated way to get a crown. It would have been easier to at least try his luck first with Elsa, wouldn’t it? She might be a little cold and standoffish at first sight, but it’s been less than half a day since Hans saw her. Wouldn’t he have at least tried to get to speak to her for a few days? In this story, I made it that Hans actually did try for three years with no positive results so he had to change tactics. 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who has been following this story and for the occasional wonderful reviews that always make my day.


	9. The Letter

Anna got up the next morning with thoughts still focused on Hans' peculiar reaction and the possible reasons for it.  The idea of Hans being in love with Elsa may seem unlikely, but then again, her sister was magical and that magic was something Anna never fully grasped.  Elsa can control ice and snow, but her powers were more than that.  She can give life to supposedly non-living creations like Olaf and Marshmallow and even Elsa herself could not explain how she can do so.  She can create things out of ice from nothing, but could not control the existing natural weather.  She can turn fabrics into ice dresses, and yet somehow return them back to cotton and wool if she wants to revert her dress back into its original state.   However, those were just the obvious aspects of her powers. Anna believed there was a more subtle power that Elsa yielded that she was not even conscious she possessed:

Elsa had a power over men.

It was there every time Elsa walked into a room.  All men’s eyes would fall on her and Anna noticed how their gazes would trail from her face to her body and would remain there.  It didn’t take long for them to start vying for her attention.   Anna used to think men reacted that way because Elsa was queen.  However, during Elsa’s own engagement party when she was surrounded by kings and queens from the various neighboring states, men still looked at her that way and none of the other women who had equal rank with her received the same reception.  

When Anna thought about it, Elsa always seemed to have that ethereal aura about her that draws people in and makes men in particular, shower her with favors.  Even her own dear Papa seemed susceptible to Elsa’s charm.  Anna remembered in their early childhood several instances when he caught them doing something naughty like stealing chocolate cookies before dinner.  He would immediately be stern at Anna, but Elsa would simply put herself between them, smile at him, say some clever excuse she made up on the spot and he would let them go free with a pat on the head.  One time he even ended up bringing the entire cookie jar for her.  It may simply be just Elsa’s natural allure, but Anna was beginning to suspect there was an aspect of the supernatural to it.

_What if her powers really do extend to enchanting a man from afar, even one she has never even seen? Hans’ poem seems to suggest he was possessed by an unknown force.  What if he really was?_

Anna realized the only way to know was to ask him.  However, she was unsure how to approach him after his angry outburst yesterday.  She was considering her options on what to do next while she breakfasted with her co-nurses, when a piece of folded paper was slid in front of her. 

"One of the patients sent this for you Anna," Marie, her friend who worked the night shift, said.  It was she who handed her the note. "A Colonel Jorgenbjorgen from room 409."

The other nurses at the table immediately stopped their chatter and looked in her direction.  By now, all the nurses who lived in the dormitory with her were aware she regularly visited a specific handsome patient in room 409 before and after her shifts.  Except for Fria, who she trusted among all her friends to be discreet, Anna did not disclose her history with Hans with anyone as she didn't want to deal with explaining the entire sordid story to them on how she was duped into agreeing to marry a man she met on the same day.  Anna may like most of the nurses she lived with but she was aware a lot of them tended to gossip. As a princess, she was conscious of the fact, she was the subject of most of the gossip that went on in the hospital.  People were intrigued by her and they were even more curious of her relationship with Hans.

"Oh is it a love letter?" one of the younger girls named Sophie teased.   She was one of the more shameless blabbermouths around.  Anna suspected the girl was even a bit jealous of her and harbored a mean streak that barely showed on the surface of her childish bubbly countenance.  "He must have fallen hard for you, Anna." 

"I hope he doesn't get too disappointed when you tell him you're married," Sophie's friend Margaux added which was met with teasing giggles from the other girls. 

Anna could definitely feel the mean vibe coming off Margaux and she resisted the urge to glare.  Instead she laughed with them. 

"It's not like that at all," she said.  "He knows I'm married.  He's well..." she paused, unsure of how much she wanted to reveal.  Admitting to them he was her ex-fiance would open the gates to a flood of questions she wasn't sure she wanted to answer.  

"He's what?" Margaux challenged as the other girls stared at her in anticipation.

"Errr... my cousin," she blurted.  Technically that wasn't really a lie.  Hans was most likely related to her by blood at some point in their family history as he did point out his family had intermarried with hers for quite some time.

"So he's royalty?" exclaimed Sophie excitedly.

_Darn it! I should have said he was just a passing acquaintance!_

"Errr... very, very distant relation.   He doesn't even have a title," Anna said and hoped that would be the end of it.  Hans did lose his title after all.

"He's still looks like Prince Charming to me," said the dreamy-eyed Sophie.  "I used to give him his medicines but he said just looking at my face is medicine enough."

Anna couldn't stop herself from glowering at the girl.   _So she's the naive nurse Hans hoodwinked into disobeying doctor's orders.  Can't exactly blame her as I didn't shove his meds down his throat either when I found out he wasn't taking them._

"Is he a bachelor?" Margaux asked and all the other girls looked eagerly to her.

Anna rolled her eyes at them.  "Yes."

A dozen smiles answered her.

"Yes, and I have it on good authority he prefers to keep his bachelorhood much longer.  He's not exactly prone to commit to a marriage," Anna grumbled. _Unless he's marrying into a crown._

"Maybe he hasn't found the right girl yet," Sophie bemused.

Anna heaved a sigh.   _How do I warn them about Hans without revealing too much?_

"Look, I know he seems charming, but he's... he's a player.  So please just be careful around him."

She can tell the girls had more questions for her so she quickly excused herself and headed out of the building.  It was only when she was completely alone that she opened his letter.  His handwriting was neat and elegant with not a single splotch of ink or a wrong punctuation mark.  It reminded her of Elsa's perfectly crafted letters.

 

Dear Anna,

I can't tell you how sorry I am for the way I acted last night.  I was out of line and you didn't deserve my anger. What happened with us in Arendelle is something I deeply regret. I wish I could do it all over again and make it right but I can't and that eats me up every single day.  I still can't come to terms with it and talking about it is difficult for me.  

If  you never come to see me again I will understand.  I want to thank you for these days that you've cared for me.  I've never had anyone do that for me before.  You may not believe it, but I will cherish these moments with you.  

I wish you, your sister and the rest of your family all the happiness in the world.

Sincerely,

Hans

 

It wasn't a letter she expected and it touched her greatly that Hans apologized without asking for anything and he even expressed gratitude to her.

_Throw a little love their way and you'll bring out their best.  Mama Bulda is right.  Maybe there's hope for Hans yet._

She hurried to the hospital and went straight to room 409.  She strode right in without ceremony.

"Hans, I forgi—"

She stopped as she saw his bed was empty.  The sheets were stripped off the mattress and set aside to be taken to the laundry. Her heart pounded with dread.

_No! He can't be dead! He can't!  Not now!  He was getting better!_

Four other patients occupied the room but all were unconscious so it was no use trying to get information from them.  She ran out into the hall but it was early enough that there was no nurse on duty stationed outside.   She met with two of the cleaning servants but both knew nothing of Hans.  

She raced down three flights of stairs with the intent of checking the tally sheet in the front lobby.  If he was dead, it would have been recorded and posted almost immediately.  The hospital clerks were that efficient.

She was running the halls at top speed when her peripheral vision caught a familiar shade of red in one of the rooms she passed.  

_Hans!_   Hope surged into her heart.  She meant to halt but her momentum was still propelling her forward even as she craned her neck to the right to confirm if it was him.   _He's still alive! He's still—_ “Oooomphh!”

The sudden impact with something large and white caught her by surprise and suddenly she was falling backwards into the floor and was being buried alive by what seemed like a ton of heavy sheets. She flailed her arms and legs for several moments but all she accomplished was to get entangled even more into the endless web of white sheets smelling strongly of borax.  

_At least they're clean,_ she thought. _But how do I get out of this?_

"Anna?" a familiar voice called out.  In a moment she felt someone's hand gently grab at her arm and pull her out from under the tangle of linens.  "Are you alright?"

Anna felt the beginning of a blush warm her cheeks as she realized she had just collided into a cart full of bed sheets and ended up in an undignified heap in front of half a dozen staff and patients.  Hans was among them and it was he who fished her out of the mess she made.  Two other nurses (she assumed they were the ones bringing the sheets that she rammed headfirst into) were being pulled out of a similar tangle by three other patients.

She slowly realized there was a growing crowd of witnesses to her embarrassing mishap.  Apparently, she had caused quite a racket loud enough that the other patients and nursing staff from the nearby wards began to peer out to see what was going on. To her horror, it included Sophie, Margaux and their group of gossips who had just walked into the hall to start their shifts.  The eager gleam in their eyes told Anna that the hot topic at the lunch line today will be all about the princess of disaster who caused a ruckus with the sheets.

Okay this is awkward..." she blurted to no one in particular.

"I know but you're gorgeous when you're awkward," Hans said loud enough for everyone to hear.  It earned him several gasps from the female nurses and a few good natured chuckles from the patients.

Anna was mortified. _Is he trying to embarrass me as payback for my chamberpot antics?_

Hans however, merely offered his arm to her and uttered in suave tones: "It's not everyday I get the privilege of rescuing a fair maiden from a sea of sheets.  Let me help you put that back right.  Did I ever tell you I adore a woman with linen folding skills?"

He made to start picking up the tangled sheets and the group of nurses nearly tripped over themselves in their haste to help him.  Apparently, they were all eager to show off their linen folding skills. 

Anna suddenly realized no one was paying attention to her anymore as Hans effectively diverted their interest.   He flashed each nurse with a charming smile that reduced them to a bunch of giggling idiots while they continued to work on refolding the sheets.  Anna scowled at him as he seemed to be enjoying the adulation too much. He met her gaze and his expression quickly turned somber.  He gestured with a nod for them to meet in a corner away from the now dispersing crowd of onlookers.  She followed his lead and met him in a few minutes in an empty part of the corridor away from prying eyes.

"I hope you got my letter, I'm really sorry," he said with genuine contrition.  "I didn't mean to offend.  In fact, I really owe you—"

"Shush!" she cut him off.  "I thought you were dead! You weren't in your bed."

"I was transferred this morning to the recovery ward," he explained.

That's when Anna realized he was barefoot and slightly shivering.  She realized he ran to her the moment he heard of the collision.  He may have been assigned to the recovery ward but he shouldn't be out of bed yet on this cold winter morning where it was easy to catch another deadly chill.

"Ok we can talk later once you are back in bed."  

She offered her arm and he took it gratefully.  They slowly walked back to his room.  They passed Sophie who looked like she wanted to offer herself as support to his other arm.

"I can handle him," Anna said curtly.

Sophie looked rather offended for a split-second before she beamed back into a sickly sweet smile.  "I'm sure your _COUSIN_ wouldn't mind the extra help," she said.

Anna's breath hitched as she realized Sophie just attempted to verify the truth about their relationship.  She waited for Hans to react in the negative that would expose her little white lie but instead he merely flashed Sophie one of his charming grins.

"It's okay Miss Sophie, cousin Anna can get me back to bed for now.  But I hope you won't be too busy for lunch.  I need my daily dose of your smile."

The girl beamed like Christmas came early.

"Ahhh... and there it is... that smile.  Best medicine in the morning.  I will see you later,” he said as he winked at her.  If she was a snowman Anna bet she would have turned into a puddle by now.  However, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Hans did feel something for Sophie.  _Maybe I should back off for now and let her spend this time with him.  Perhaps he prefers her company but he feels too guilty about yesterday to tell me to scram._

"Let's go before she catches on," Hans whispered to her.

_Or maybe not._

Anna picked up their pace.  It was only when they were out of earshot that she spoke to him.

"Thanks for the... uhhmmm... cover," she said sheepishly.

"Cover?" he asked with a puzzled expression.

"I can explain the cousin bit."

"No need to, I know.   We're second degree cousins, once removed," he said.

"We’re what?" It was Anna's turn to look puzzled.  

Hans gave her an annoying grin of triumph.  "Oh this just priceless!  You don't actually know we’re cousins, do you?  But you told her anyway that I was.  Why did you?”

Anna realized she was caught in the lie.  "I didn't want her asking questions so I just figured I could say we're related just to shut her up. Hey, you should be thanking me for keeping it mum.  News gets around fast in this place.  Would you rather I tell everyone what our real relationship was and how it went sour because you tried to chop my sister's head off?"

His grin disappeared.  "You're right, it's less complicated that way.  I’m sorry."

Anna shrugged. "Besides, I figured you liked her.  Hey, I'm not one to ruin your chances by blackening your reputation.  Just don't... don't hurt her okay?"

"I'm not really..." he began somberly but it was enough for Anna to catch his meaning and it fired up her temper.

"You insensitive pig! You don't care for her one bit, do you?"

"I like her well enough..." he said half-heartedly.

"Just not enough!" Anna snapped.  "If you don't care for her, don't act like you do.  You think you can toy with other people's feelings and just leave it like that?  If you’re so blind by your ego that you haven’t figured it out, let me spell it out for you: People's feelings get hurt when you do that and it's not okay!"

"Why do you even care?” he asked with a sardonic laugh.   “She’s not your friend, is she?"

Anna hesitated to answer.  She couldn't really say she and Sophie were friends.  They were civil enough but they weren't close and she suspected Sophie didn't like her very much.  But she wasn't going to admit that to Hans.

"Uhhhmmm... she is a friend... sort of."

"Sort of?" he scoffed.  "Meaning you're not.  And believe me, if you haven't realized it yet, she's not your friend the way she talks about you."

She wasn't surprised Sophie talked about her.  The girl was a chatterbox after all.  But that didn't give Hans a right to use her as his plaything either.

"It doesn't matter whether or not she's my friend.  She's a human being with feelings.  You hurt her or any of the other girls here and you deal with me!" She shook her fist up to remind him the last time he crossed with her.

Hans pulled back with alarm.  "Okay, okay I'm sorry.  I’ll stop leading her on."

"Be sure you do," she threatened.

They reached his assigned room and she helped him back into bed and tucked him in with extra thick blankets.  There were five other patients that shared the room with him and each needed some tending as well.  Anna took her time checking each one, deliberately delaying the inevitable moment of speaking to Hans.   He said nothing but silently waited for her. She was aware he was observing how she interacted with the other patients and that made her a bit self-conscious.  Finally, when there were no more tasks left for her to do she sided up to him.

"You're good at this," he said.

"At what?" she asked.

"Caring for people," he said in a manner that suggested he was quite impressed.  

"It's my duty."

"No, it's more than that.  It's your passion."  He paused for a moment as if he was trying to decide what to say.    "You're different.  It's... crazy."

"I'm crazy?!" she cried indignantly.   _He's the murderous scumbag and he dares to call me crazy?_

"Yes, you're crazy.  For being here when you don't have to.  For choosing to care for people even when they don't deserve it.  It's so..."

"Idiotic?" she asked, expecting that was what he was thinking.

He shook his head and replied somberly.  "Brave."

"Oh."

"You have a bravery unlike anyone I've known."

She felt an unexpected surge of warmth at his praise.  "Well, I'm not anyone," she muttered shyly.

"No, you're not," he agreed.  "You're just you.  You heart doesn't work like the rest of us and you make the world better for it."

Anna knew she was blushing and she didn't really know what to say.  The silence stretched on awkwardly between them until she decided to end it by changing the topic.

"So... you're really my cousin.  Exactly how are you my cousin?"

He seemed eager to get into the subject change for he answered immediately.  "Your father's grandmother and my father's mother are sisters.  We share a pair of great grandparents.  They have a minor dukedom in Prussia."

"Wow! I never knew that. I mean, I should.  Papa used to point out the names of all our relatives but I can't remember all of them."  She vividly recalled all those long hours of reading the narratives about the names of old kings and queens of Arendelle and all their important courtiers.  She would forget each one as soon as she closed the book as they didn’t seem to strike her as anything but a succession of boring names.

"That's just the closest link we have.  I've traced our family trees and I found we have at least fourteen direct common ancestors all the way back to the thirteenth century.  I found twenty-seven more indirect links to us if I add the ties through marriage and another forty-eight if I consider the ties through my father's wives.  He had six, by the way, so the spread was quite wide."

Anna was astounded.  "We have that many relations?"

Hans chortled good-naturedly.   "Don’t be surprised.  Technically, if you consider it, we're related to every single ruling monarch in Europe.  Except maybe for Emperor Bonaparte... that is if you don't consider his marriage to the princess of Austria who happens to be our great aunt."

Anna shook her head to clear the rather disturbing thought that the current Emperor that got them into this pickle of a war was her nephew.

"Do you spend your days just tracing your relations all across Europe?" she asked.  He seemed to have made an enormous effort to come up with actual figures.

"No, just the ones related to your sister."

Anna mouth fell open in surprise at that revelation. "So you traced how you were related to Elsa? Why?"

Hans' brow furrowed in the way that told her he regretted sharing that information with her.  He bit his lip self-consciously then slowly faced her.

"I guess I just wanted to get as much information on her as I could.  I did plan to marry her even if I've never met her.  I figured it could be a good way to start a conversation with someone you barely know.  A game of ‘name your common ancestor’ seemed like a good way to break the ice." He chuckled forcefully, which gave him away that there was more to what he was revealing.

Anna eyed him carefully.  “Hans, just be honest with me.”

She noticed him swallow hard, an indication he was uneasy where this conversation was going.  She decided she needed to thread carefully.  She didn’t want to set him off like the last time.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.  If you feel I’m being unreasonably nosy here just say so.  I won’t take offense.”

“Okay?” he mumbled uneasily as if he was bracing himself.

“Are you… or were you… in love with Elsa?”

“I beg your pardon?” The look of bewilderment that crossed his face clued her that was one question he was not expecting but she pressed on.

“Are you in love with my sister?  Or maybe you felt some kind of strange obsession with her even before you saw her on her coronation.   Like something magical is forcing you to think of her endlessly and you can’t get away from it until you marry her?”

Hans continued to raise an eyebrow in confusion.  “Uhhhmmm… no, I don’t think so.”

“Do you feel like you’re cursed to be drawn to her?” Anna she tried a different tactic.  “Are you feeling like you were wrapped in a spell and you can’t stop thinking of her and it’s killing you inside.”

Hans rubbed his chin, the look of bewilderment on his face only seemed to grow even more.  “No! Okay, Anna, what exactly are you trying to tell me here?”

“I was thinking Elsa might have… not deliberately of course… sort of maybe… magically attracted you from afar?” she muttered pathetically.

“Is that a thing about Elsa’s powers?” he asked skeptically.

“Not that I know of,” Anna replied.

“Then why would you think that she’s has the capability of seducing me magically?”

“You said so in your poem to her!” she exclaimed as if it was obvious.

Hans rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean any of that about her.”

“Wait—what?” cried indignantly.  _Did he just admit the poem was all a lie?_

Hans shook his head and he looked gravely at her.  “You asked me to be honest, so I will be.  I wrote that to impress her and maybe get her to respond, but she never inspired those feelings of longing from me.”

“So she was just a means to get a throne, nothing else?”  Anna didn’t even know why she was asking that.  She had known all along Hans had courted both her and her sister for selfish reasons.  And yet something about Anna just refused to believe that the poem she had spent years sighing over can be inspired by nothing more than cold ambition.

Hans didn’t respond and Anna decided there was her answer.

“Thank you for being honest,” Anna muttered under her breath.  She needed to get away from him.  “I should go, let you rest.”

he stood up and walked slowly to the door.

“Anna, wait! Please.”

She turned back to him but didn’t have much hope of comfort.  _He’s probably just going to try to soften it for me by providing justification for his actions._

She returned to his bedside but he didn’t speak for several moments.  “What?” she asked impatiently.

He looked like he was struggling to form the words.  “The poem wasn’t about Elsa.  The one that caught me in a spell wasn’t your sister.”

“Then who?” Anna asked.

“It’s not who, it’s what.” He stared at her steadily.  “It’s what Elsa has.”

She sat on the edge of his bed.  “I don’t understand.”

He heaved a sigh.   “It’s easier if I just show you something.” He pointed at the small trunk at the foot of his bed.  “I need you to get something for me from there.  It’s the small bag inside my coat.”

Anna got up from the bed and went to the standard trunk where she knew the personal belongings of the patients that occupied each bed were placed.  Inside, she found a few pieces of clothes, including the outer coat of his uniform.  She felt for the inside pocket and found a small draw string bag.   She handed it to him and he slowly took out a small worn notebook that appeared to have little pockets inside.  He drew out a piece of folded yellowing paper and handed it to her.

“This holds the answer to your question,” he said.

“What’s this?”

“A letter to my mother.  It’s the only one I kept with me during the war.  I’ve kept it always close to me for years.”

“What’s so important about this?” Anna asked.

He gave her a sad smile.  “It’s the letter that told me since I was a boy what should have been… what could have been mine.  Read it and you’ll understand.  Come back to me when you’re done and we can talk about it.”

Anna nodded and understood she should read this without him present and in private.          

She walked out of the room and found a quiet area of the corridor where she could be alone.  She felt a strange tingle of fear course through her as she carefully unfolded the letter.

 

My dearest Johanna,

You know I love no other but you…

 

Anna dropped the letter as she placed a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp of shock.

The words were written in what was unmistakably her beloved Papa’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historically, the royal families of Norway, Denmark and Sweden have always been related by blood and marriage. Arendelle, as popular theory suggests, is in Norway and the Southern Isles is in Denmark. At the time of the Napoleonic wars Norway and Denmark was one state. I imagined in this story that Arendelle and the Southern Isles are small independent states from Denmark-Norway but since the pool of royal families is quite small shouldn’t Anna’s and Hans’ families be similarly related? So I came up with the idea that they are second degree cousins through their paternal grandmothers. Marrying your cousin was not frowned upon as incest in the 19th century. It’s socially acceptable to do so at that time, especially if you’re royalty and you’re expected to marry someone of equal rank. 
> 
> A lot of authors in the Frozen fandom have come up with the idea of Hans being enchanted which explains his sudden turn-around at the end of the movie. However, I didn’t want to go in a similar path. I wanted to explore the concept of Hans being culpable of his actions and motivated by something else from his past that ties him to the Arendelle sisters. Anna, as a romantic, would immediately think that Hans was simply in love with Elsa and this was his motive for pursuing her. However, she is about to learn that the reality of his motivations is something more painfully tragic.


	10. Sins of the Fathers

Anna felt like she was caught in a nightmare where nothing made sense.   The implications of those first few words in the letter swirled in her mind and she could not put a finger to it.

_It's not possible!  Papa loved Mama.  I’ve watched them for years and they were always the one I looked to when I imagined what it would be like to have your true love beside you.  There was never another woman in his life.  I must be mistaken.  Maybe whoever this person who wrote to Hans' mother just had the same penmanship as Papa._

Anna picked up the letter and her eyes moved to the bottom to the signature, willing it to be another name.  But it was there, clearly written in a familiar neat script:

 

Yours forever,

Agdar

 

There was no question anymore who wrote it.  Anna had seen enough of her father’s signature for years.  He always wrote her notes for special occasions that accompanied his presents to her on Christmas and her birthday or even on days she made an accomplishment that he deemed worth celebrating with a letter and a gift.  She even spent hours after her parents’ death reading the stack of letters her father wrote to her and to her mother.  He wrote loving messages to her Mama, often signing it with the affectionate closing “your loving husband” or “your devoted partner.”

_It can’t be.  He was always Mama’s!  There was never anyone else!_

With shaking hands, she held the letter to the light to discern if it was a trick but nothing changed on what was written on the paper.  She started reading from the beginning.  She noted the date on the top of the page that she missed the first time.

 

5 September 1783

 

This was written before her Papa and Mama were married or even met.  It was before her father became king.

 

My dearest Johanna,

You know that I love no other but you.  I understood why you had to do what you did.  It breaks my heart that you must put yourself in such a situation, but I love you still and my love is deep enough that I readily forgive you. You don't have to marry Kristian.  He does not love you like I do and he will never make you happy.

I do not have a kingdom to offer you like he does, but I swear I will do everything I can to give you a comfortable and honorable life as my wife.  I don't care if the child you carry is his.  Come back to me and I will claim your child as my own. I will bring him up as my son or daughter and no one need to know otherwise.  Everything I have now and in the future is yours and this child who I will proudly call mine.

I beg you my love, please reconsider this decision.  I will await for your response everyday.

Yours forever,

Agdar

 

Anna had to re-read the letter several times to truly fathom its meaning.  Her Papa, her most loving, romantic Papa had loved another and was willing to even take in the responsibility of a child not his.

_A child not his?_

Anna rechecked the date and made a mental computation.  The letter was written almost thirty years ago, the child would be around 28 years old now by her estimate.

_Hans!  He was the child and Papa wanted him! Something must have happened to them that Papa never married Hans' mother._

She carefully refolded the letter, tucked it into her pocket hurried back to the recovery ward.

"Hans?" she called out as she approached him.  

"You've read it?" he asked expectantly.

Anna nodded and sat at his bedside.  She lowered her voice so she wouldn't be overheard by the other patients and the two nursing aides in the room.  "My father wrote this to your mother?  You were the child he was referring to."

He made an almost imperceptible nod and he avoided her gaze as if he was ashamed.  "Yes, I was.  I was her only child.  I suppose you can tell from the letter I was conceived out of wedlock."

Anna felt just as uncomfortable at this revelation.  She was unsure how to ask further the delicate questions about his birth.  She took his hand and squeezed it.  He didn't pull away but allowed her hand to rest on his but she dared not meet his eyes.

"It's okay," he said.  "You deserve to know.  My mother was my father's mistress before he married her.”

Anna looked up, surprised at how easily he admitted something so scandalous.

“Don't look so shocked. My father, King Kristian, had several mistresses while he was in between wives.  However, he only married the women that could bring alliances that can benefit him or his kingdom politically.  My mother was an exception though.  She was the daughter of a famous admiral, a high ranking official from the time of my grandfather's reign.  She had the right connections socially but no royal bloodline, title or great fortune of her own.  But she caught his eye and he was enchanted with her.  My father always got what he wanted."

Anna gasped at the implication Hans insinuated.  "He forced her?"

"I'm not sure," Hans replied sullenly.  "I supposed she wasn't entirely resistant to him or she could have been persuaded to accept his advances eventually.  Her father was certainly eager to promote the match.  He had come from humble beginnings and he had always pursued ways to bring his family up the social ladder.  You can't get much higher than having your daughter as a queen even if she had to start out as a royal mistress."

Anna couldn’t imagine anyone, much less a father would want that for his daughter.  Her Papa certainly would never allow her or Elsa to end up that way.  "What about my Papa then?  How was he involved?" Anna asked.

"I'm not certain how he and my mother met.  But I know your father did spend his teenage years in the Southern Isles.  You do remember he was born a second son.  He was never meant to be king of Arendelle. His older brother Asbjorn was the young, healthy king who was already married and expected to continue the Arendelle line. As a younger brother to the king, your father would have been expected to have a military career or take up holy orders.  He chose the former and was trained by my mother's father who was the head of the Southern Isles navy at that time.  I do have some of your father's earlier letters to my mother. My nursemaid secretly gave them to me when I was ten and I've read all of them.  They've been friends since he was fourteen and she was twelve.  They were secretly engaged by the time she was seventeen."

"Engaged?" Anna muttered.  "I never imagined Papa could be engaged to another.    They never married?"

Hans shook his head.  "One of your father's letters told me he came home to Arendelle to ask your Uncle Asbjorn permission to marry her in the spring of 1783.  That same year, my mother became my father's mistress and her regular correspondence with your father abruptly stopped.  I can only guess what happened then."

Anna felt sick.  Her Papa must have been heartbroken but she couldn't help but feel a little relieved for he certainly found another love with her Mama.  He had moved on to find the great love of his life and had been happy with his Queen Idunn.

"The one I showed you was the last letter I found between them," Hans continued.

"So she never responded to him? She married your father."

He nodded.  "And became miserable as his queen in the nest of vipers of the Westergaard court.  I supposed my mother did love your father but she didn't love him enough that she would give up the chance of becoming queen.  The irony was, had she married Prince Agdar and waited a year... just a year, she would have gotten what she wanted."

"Uncle Asbjorn died in the carriage accident with Aunt Catherine and their new born baby," Anna related.

"And your father became King of Arendelle.  She could have been his queen and I his son, his heir," he said bitterly.   He paused for a long while and looked away again.  When he spoke, he voice sounded choked.  "He offered her that: 'Everything I have now and in the future is yours and this child who I will proudly call mine.' You don't know how many times, I've read those lines and wondered 'what if?' What if she had accepted his offer? What if I had a father who would willingly let me be his heir even if I wasn't his?”

Anna felt a tear ran down her cheek. She understood now what Hans meant when he said he wanted what Elsa had.  He lost an opportunity to have a better future because his mother had given up love in favor of ambition.

He turned back to her slowly. "You might think I only wanted to be his son to gain the throne of Arendelle but it wasn't just that, Anna.  I never really had a place in the home I grew up in.  I told you before my father had twelve sons before me.  I was a spare he didn't need.  My brothers didn't care for me either.  The fact that my mother was not really of royal blood like their own mothers hurt their opinion of me even further."   Anna saw the unshed tears in his eyes and she averted her own gaze to allow him the bit of privacy she knew he needed.

"Papa would have loved you," she said to comfort him.  She believed her Papa would too had the circumstances been different for there was no man until she met Kristoff who can compare to him the way he cared and loved her and Elsa.

"I know," Hans said quietly.  "Because he did love me."

Anna was astonished.  "You knew my Papa?"

Hans hesitated for a moment and when he spoke again he did so haltingly as if he was thinking hard of what he was saying.   "He... he regularly visited me and my mother... when I was very young.   He was my father's cousin so it wasn't surprising he frequented the Southern Isles court even after he became king."

Anna was surprised but didn’t think it unusual.  "You spent time with him?"

"He used to take me riding.   He would spend hours with me just talking or playing.  He read to me books I loved.  I remembered he even did the voices for the characters." He paused and a smile lit his face as he seemed to be recalling a pleasant memory.  "My favorite is when he used to do this booming voice for this villain Lord—"

"Maledorn," Anna finished for him.  "From the Adventures of Flynn Rider."

"So you know?" his smile brightened.  

"He used to read that for me and Elsa.  That was one of my best memories of him."

"It was mine as well.  My own father never did that for me.  No one else did." He let out a sad little laugh.  "I used to think he was my father."

Anna smiled wistfully, her heart gladdened that somehow her kindhearted Papa had given light to Hans’ early life. "How old were you then?" she asked.

"Around four, five years old.  But he must have been coming to see us even earlier.  It only ended when my mother died when I was six.  He wanted to take me in as his ward and bring me to Arendelle. He petitioned my father for it after her funeral."

"Six?" Anna pondered.  "I was already alive then and so was Elsa.  You were only two years apart.  We could have met and lived together."  This was incredible! If Hans had become her father's ward they would have been raised in the same castle.  Perhaps she would have treated him as an older brother and her lonely childhood could have been so different if had he been around.  She had always wanted a brother, especially during the lonely years when Elsa was shut away from her.  She even used to beg her parents for another sibling.  She did have three little brothers but none survived infancy.  It was the more painful moments of their family.  Mama used to cry for weeks after each death and Papa would lock himself with Elsa.     "Why didn't you go with my Papa when he asked?"

Hans looked away and fell silent.

"Hans?" she asked.  "Tell me what happened."

"Your mother objected," he said it so softly Anna barely heard it.

"Objected?" Anna puzzled.  She could think of no reason why her Mama, her sweet compassionate Mama would object to bringing an unwanted motherless boy in her home.  She, who always made presents for the orphans in Arendelle during the holidays and had taught her the value of sharing with other people would never have rejected a little boy in need.  "Why would you think my Mama would object?"

Hans took her hand and stared intently at her with sorrowful eyes.  "I don't blame her.  I used to when I was a child but I eventually understood.  Any other woman in her place would have done the same."

"I don't understand," Anna said.

Hans heaved a sigh.  "Anna... don't you see?  My mother wasn't just my father's mistress.  She was also your father's even after you and Elsa were born."


	11. A Brother At Last

**Chapter Eleven: A Brother At Last**

"Anna? Anna, are you alright?"

Hans' voice sounded like he was so far away. She couldn't respond to him even if she wanted. The heaviness in her throat seemed to suffocate her as her mind whirled with confusion.

_This can't be true! Papa would never do that to Mama. He would never have hurt her with such a betrayal not after Elsa and I were around. He may have loved another before her but it would have ended when Mama came into his life. That's how true love is supposed to work!_

Anna didn't want to believe it. However, a memory came to her, vivid as the day she experienced it. She was thirteen years old then and in one of the darkest moments of her young life…

 

***

_Arendelle Castle_

_5th of June 1802_

 

Anna entered the dimly lit room and immediately noticed the air still smelled faintly of blood. She had seen the maids just moments ago carrying the bloodstained sheets and towels. Her eyes immediately went to the figure of Mama who lay on the bed, her head bowed against a pillow and her dark hair spread in disarray around her sweat stained face.

"Mama?" Anna called out hesitantly. Her mother looked up and quickly made a desperate gesture for her to come forward. Anna raced to her side and Mama clasped her body and openly sobbed on her shoulder.

"I lost him, Anna! I lost your little brother! Another little brother!"

Tears prickled in Anna's eyes but she was determined not to cry. She had to be strong for Mama.

"It's okay Mama. I'm sure little Flynn was meant to be an angel early on," she said using the name Anna had fondly called her unborn brother.

Anna had always given names to all her baby siblings even while they were still in the womb. The names she had chosen were always those of famous heroes. The two older ones before Flynn she had named Jason (after the Greek hero of the Golden Fleece) and Robin Hood. Jason had come along when Anna was eight. Anna had been so excited to have a sibling to play with she spent weeks practicing how to hold a baby doll properly and spent months making long lists of what she would teach baby Jason. She even shared all her fun plans in a twenty-five page treatise complete with illustrations that she slipped under Elsa's door. Elsa had responded for once with a rather short letter that told her the plans were great except she had to wait until baby Jason was old enough before he jumped fences, rode bicycles or go swimming with the duckies in the pond with her. Sadly, baby Jason never grew old enough for he died one month into his birthday. It was a big blow to Anna but she was equally excited when Mama announced that she was pregnant again after a year. Unfortunately, little Robin Hood didn't even live to be a day old. He didn't cry out when he was pulled out from Mama's womb and the doctors said he never breathed. It took years before Mama became pregnant again.

Anna had been so sure Flynn was going to be the brother that she would get to care for. Mama had come to full term and the doctors were confident she was healthy enough to give birth. It came as a shock to her when Gerda woke her at three in the morning today and told her Mama had lost baby Flynn and was asking for her.

"Flynn is happy now with Jason and Robin," Anna told her mother as she struggled to believe her own words. "There will be another Mama. You just wait."

Mama pulled away and shook her head. "No there won't be Anna, I'm sorry. The doctor told me this is the last one. It's too dangerous for me. I can't... I can't give you a brother. I can't give your Papa a son!"

Anna can no longer hold back the tears as her Mama's words sank in. There would be no baby brother for her to fulfill her plans with. There was no one else to be with since Elsa still refused to come out. She sobbed into Mama's shoulder and held on to her tightly.

"Papa should be here," Anna said when she managed to recover from her tears. "I'll ask Gerda—"

"No Anna!" her mother pleaded. "I can't... I can't face him. Not yet. Let him be with Elsa." She stared into space and Anna could see the fear in her eyes. "I'm being punished. I know that now. I can't give him a son because I refused to let him have the son he wanted."

Anna was confused _. Was she talking about Jason or Robin? Is she thinking it was her fault that they died? That she is refusing them by their deaths?_

"I was only thinking of you and Elsa. I was afraid he would love that boy more than he would love you. Agdar could have raised him above Elsa, above her birthright… above yours!"

 _Of course my baby brothers would have risen above me and Elsa. It didn't matter if they were younger. They were boys and boys come before girls when it came to ruling kingdoms. It was a silly rule but it was how things were. Even she knew that. Papa and Mama both told me that but Mama must have forgotten._  "Mama what are you talking about?"

Mama didn't seem to have heard her. She continued to ramble on incoherently and nothing she said made sense.

"She was dead... it was over... I was so thankful she was dead... he would mine now... but he wanted the boy... flaming red hair... like hers... I couldn't let him bring that piece of her here... I had to tell Kristian... tell him the truth... it didn't matter if it broke relations... diplomacy can hang... Arendelle is meant for my daughters! Not this boy's! Not her boy!"

Anna shrank back, fearful of her Mama's sudden anger. She was unable to find any words to say to calm her. She was startled when she felt someone touch her shoulder. She looked up and saw Papa, his eyes rimmed red with tears. He immediately held Mama to him.

"Idunn, I'm here. The past is the past. It's just you and our girls now. There's no one else."

Mama held on to him desperately and Anna decided to leave them for now. She sat down outside her Mama's room and cried alone for the loss of little Flynn.

It was probably an hour later that Papa came out of Mama's room. She immediately went to him.

"She's asleep now. We should let her rest," Papa announced.

"What was she saying before Papa? I didn't understand."

Papa shook his head. "It was just grief, nothing more." He enclosed Anna tightly in his arms. "You and Elsa are always number one to me. Remember that. And your mother is the woman I chose to love until the end of my life."

Anna held him back, reassured by his words. They will get through this. They had each other.

 

***

 

_Warsaw, Poland_

_Present Day_

 

"Anna? Anna, I'm so sorry. Please speak to me. I didn't mean to upset you."

Anna woke from her trance as she realized Hans was still talking to her. The memory of that night they lost baby Flynn hung heavily in her heart and she now began to understand with sudden clarity her mother's rambling and the pain she must have gone through.

"My Mama told your father about the affair," Anna said to Hans.

Hans nodded. "My father never knew until then. He never really paid much attention to my mother after he married her and gave birth to me. His would-be wife number six was already his mistress by then. That didn't mean he would let my mother's indiscretion go, or his cousin's. He refused your father's petition to take me and he cut off all diplomatic ties to Arendelle. King Agdar couldn't take me unless he declared war. My father actually goaded him to do it. He was that eager to punish your father for being involved with his wife. I suppose in the end, your mother convinced him I wasn't worth it."

Anna believed her Mama had done exactly that. "I know she did. She fought to have him. It was her right!" She paused as a sudden sickening thought came to her. "Wait? Hans, you're not… I mean… are you… my brother?"

Hans' eyes widened with shock at the question. "Your brother? You mean, you think I'm your father's…" He gave her a look of disgust. "NO! I tried to marry you and Elsa. I may have been desperate but I wasn't desperate enough to try to marry my own sister!"

"But are you sure? I mean if Papa and your mother were involved, couldn't there be a chance that you were Papa's?"

Hans shook his head. "The thought did cross my mind since I was a boy and I spent years trying to prove that I was King Agdar's, but there was simply no evidence I was. My own father bragged to my face that I couldn't possibly be anyone's child but his because he had my mother when she was untouched and she was pregnant soon after. My own nursemaid attested your father didn't return to the Southern Isles until after I was born. I've questioned dozens of courtiers in the Southern Isles who were there at the time our parents were having an affair, and they all claimed the same thing. I was the son of King Kristian, there was no question about it." He paused and let out a sad smile. "And of course there was the most obvious evidence of all: your father gave up on taking me with him."

Anna's heart clenched at Hans' heartbreaking admission of that painful rejection. "He should have fought harder for you," she said.

"I don't blame your father," Hans said gently. "He probably felt trapped in his situation. You do know his marriage to your mother was arranged for political reasons and those can really put pressure on a man."

Anna used to think that it was love match. Her parents showed such affection to each other it was easy to imagine they had fallen in love and married because of it. However, now that she thought about it, Mama and Papa had never really related the love story of how they met. Mama used to say they met at a ball in Corona hosted by her older brother, King Frederic. They were introduced and married a month after. She gave no details of a romantic courtship. She mentioned he was the most handsome, most intelligent man she had ever met and she was happy to have married him but Papa never related anything similar like that. She was beginning to think the attraction between her parents had been one-sided at the time of their marriage.

"Corona was the most prosperous kingdom that bordered Prussia. They controlled the sea routes that benefitted the Arendellian ice trade," Hans explained. "Your mother's dowry was a forty percent reduction of all tariffs of Arendellian goods that passed through the Coronan ports. It's the same deal my father got with Corona when he married his youngest sister Arianna to King Frederic."

"Wait? Aunt Arianna? Cousin Rapunzel's mother is your father's sister?" Anna asked as she remembered her fun-loving, quirky cousin who she met during Elsa's coronation and still maintained a close friendship through letters.

Hans nodded. "Rapunzel is also my cousin. She's another one of those relations we share and another product of my father's political matchmaking. My brothers were furious when Rapunzel married that former thief. They were hoping one of them would marry her after she was found and returned to her parents. Corona is still one of the most strategic states for trade and political influence even with its small size and marrying the heir to throne is a sure ticket to a life of prosperity."

Anna was secretly glad Rapunzel did marry cousin Eugene and not one of the Westergaard brothers. She had spoken to them both during Elsa's coronation and they seemed very happy together. They reminded her of her parents' relationship—warm and openly affectionate. She wondered if her parents' relationship had been like that at the beginning and realized with growing dismay that it probably wasn't.

"Anna, whatever you may doubt now about your father, I can assure you he loved you and Elsa," said Hans gently. "I know because he spoke of you often to me when I was little."

"He spoke about us?"

"Well Elsa mostly, which was understandable since you were still an infant then and he couldn't say much about you except that you cry a lot and would crawl into places you shouldn't."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle. Her Mama used to tell her even as a baby she was troublesome. She kept her nursemaids awake for hours and she never kept in one place like she was supposed to. Elsa, on the other hand, was known to all the servants Anna spoke to, as a well-behaved child. She may have frozen things around her but she was always obedient, knew to take her naps on time, always finished her milk and didn't bawl for hours unless it was necessary. Gerda often said Elsa was born mature, while Anna was forever stuck at terrible two stage.

"He told you about Elsa?"

"He did. He said she was his precious tulip and she was clever and poised like a queen. He used to carry a miniature of Elsa that he showed me. I remember just staring at it for a long time and I would steal it from his pocket to look at it some more. She was just this little blonde angel I can't help be fascinated with. He told me if I was a good boy he'd take me one day to see her and I could play with her."

He paused and looked away but not before Anna noticed a reddening at his cheeks. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Just something I remembered."

"Remembered something embarrassing?" Anna teased. "You have to tell me."

Hans colored even more and Anna knew she was hitting right on mark. She said nothing but grinned knowingly at him.

Hans finally let out a defeated sigh. "I once asked your father if I could marry Elsa. I think that's another piece of evidence that I wasn't really his. He didn't go crazy sick when I asked."

Anna burst out laughing as she pictured a five-year-old Hans asking her Papa to marry her three-year-old sister. It didn't escape her that Hans had a bit of a crush on Elsa based on a picture. It was adorable. "Did he say yes?"

"Uh no, he didn't. He asked me what made me think I deserved her. He was probably jesting but I took it seriously. I told him I'd be a knight who will slay dragons for her or rescue her from a tower. And you know what he said?"

"What?" Anna asked between giggles. The image of a little Hans dreaming of doing heroic deals was just too cute.

"He said she doesn't need any of that. That both of his daughters can slay their own dragons and escape from their own towers because they're his little girls and they will one day be strong women he can be proud of." Hans looked away and a sad smile lit his face. "That's when I knew. He may care for me but it was nothing compared to how much he loved you two."

 _And you've been jealous of us since then,_  Anna realized.  _Mama need not have worried about Hans taking our place. Papa put us first just as he said to me that night we lost baby Flynn. Oh but poor Hans! Even the man he looked up to for affection considered him only as secondary to his love. No child should be made to feel that way._

"You should have been my brother," Anna said softly. "I would have accepted you."

"I know you will," Hans said. He continued to avert his glassy gaze before he sighed dejectedly. "But things are what they are."

Anna shook her head. "They don't have to be." She got up from her seat at the edge of her bed and moved towards him. She enveloped him in her arms.

"Anna what are you doing...?" Hans gasped as he stiffened at her embrace.

Anna just held him tighter and whispered to him. "Sharing with you my Papa's love, the one you missed out on for the last twenty plus years."

Hans drew back, his green eyes grew wide with astonishment. He opened his mouth to protest but he closed it again and something like understanding lit his face.

"Thank you," he murmured before he let himself fall into her hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the more popular Frozen-Tangled fan theories is that Anna's mother Idunn and Rapunzel's mother Arianna are sisters. However, I noticed two specific details among these characters that made me question this theory: eye and hair color. Idunn's eyes are blue like her daughters. Though it's not impossible for her to have a sister who has green eyes, I noticed it's Rapunzel's father Frederic who shares this trait with Idunn along with the dark brown hair. So I conceived the cousin connection between Anna and Rapunzel is more plausible if Idunn and Frederic were siblings. Queen Arianna, on the other hand, shares her bright green eyes with Rapunzel. The hue matches exactly with Hans. So I concluded that there must be a connection there too with Arianna possibly being a Westergaard before she was married.
> 
> Agdar, as I've already established, is the first cousin of Hans' father, thus their similarity in facial structure and green eyes. Agdar is also a strawberry blond, a trait he shares with Anna. Did you ever wonder why Anna and Hans are both red heads? There you have it, it's genetically passed through centuries of royal interbreeding. However, I surmised Hans' hair is a brighter red, a trait he obtained from his mother. Johanna Jorgenbjorgen may be born a commoner but she also had some royal blood mixed into hers at some point from her Scottish ancestors. Any guess who they are?
> 
> I hope this satisfies the question on a lot of guest reviewers' minds on whether or not Hans is Anna's and Elsa's brother. No he isn't, at least not biologically, but Anna is willing to treat him as such in her heart. (So to my other reviewer Loreley9, I just granted your dream of having Anna, Elsa and Hans as siblings without totally ruining your OTP).
> 
> This story isn't over yet as I still have a few chapters to go to tie up some loose ends regarding other characters. Thanks a lot to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers who follow this story.


	12. An Unexpected Turn

_Warsaw, Poland_

_December 23, 1812_

 

Anna hummed a somber Christmas carol as she strung the handmade paper decorations on the little tree the hospital staff had set up. It was a poorly made holiday decor for all they had to dress it with were the odds and ends of used filling paper cut into an assortment of odd shapes. She was no artist like Elsa and so far all she'd done were crude little misshapen things that didn't at all resemble angels or stars or candles that she imagined them.

She reached into her basket for another decor and found several perfectly made three-dimensional paper snowflakes, like the ones Elsa used to make when they entertained the orphans at Christmas with paper cutting projects. She marveled at the object and realized they were from the pile that Hans brought in half an hour ago.

Hans had been recovering well enough over the last few weeks that he didn't need to be constantly in bed. He started helping out with the nurses in the hospital in small ways. This morning, Anna had roped him into doing some cutouts for her. She hadn't had time to look into his work before as she was busy stringing some odd balls she made herself. Now that she did, Anna was surprised Hans actually had a talent for these things that could rival her sister's. She remembered how beautiful the decorations were every Christmas whenever Elsa took charge. Elsa had an eye for design unlike anyone Anna knew. Anything Elsa made, whether it was done out of her magical ice or even simple paper, always looked magnificent.

The memory of her sister's beautiful decorations saddened her as she stared at her own poor handiwork. Hans' cutouts may be shaped perfectly but as it was just made out of plain paper, it lacked the sparkle of the tinsel Elsa used that really made the decors pop out with holiday cheer.

_It's the thought that counts and anything is better than nothing. Even a poorly decorated tree can still bring some holiday joy to the sick soldiers that need it most,_  she decided.

Anna was struggling to find her own holiday cheer. Weeks had gone by and there was still no news of Kristoff. Since the start of December, she had received new information on a total of 184 Arendellian soldiers. A hundred and forty seven of them were confirmed killed in action or died of injuries in medical facilities. The rest were reported to be recuperating in the other hospitals across Poland and Russia. None had ended up in her hospital so she had no opportunity to question them. She continued to rely only on the official reports and the occasional soldier that had scant information.

The latest report a few days ago said the last of their forces had already pulled out of Russia three weeks ago. The war was essentially over. A lot of the hospital staff and the recuperated patients had already packed up and gone home to their respective countries. Anna was given the option by her superiors to leave as well, but she had opted to stay. The fjord surrounding Arendelle was already frozen at this time and the ports wouldn't be open until mid-January at the earliest. If she left Warsaw, she would end up waiting until the snows melted to get home. She did have a standing invitation from her cousin Rapunzel to spend the holidays with her family in Corona but she politely refused. There were still poor, sick soldiers that were trickling in beaten down carriages, weary horses, or on foot. Their stories were all the same: trudging through hours of snow on empty stomachs, while wallowing in disease and the anguish over their fallen comrades. Only the thought of reaching home kept them alive. Anna couldn't bear to leave them when the hospital staff was already thinning and there was a chance that one of them might know something about Kristoff.

Anna abruptly stopped humming as she remembered her sweet dear husband. She now carried his last letter and those of Elsa's and her children's in a satchel she tied around her neck everyday as a way to keep her family close. She took Kristoff's letter out once more, read his loving words and softly murmured them to herself. It brought fresh tears into her eyes. Unable to hold them anymore, she knelt in front of the makeshift nativity next to the tree and offered a prayer.

"Lord, keep him safe. I hope somewhere another woman is taking care of him and making his holiday brighter while I take care of all these poor souls you send my way. I promise I'll stay here and take care of all of them. Just bring him safely home to me."

She heard a soft gasp behind her and she turned to find Hans carrying a basket full of newly handmade decors.

"I... I'm sorry for interrupting. I can come back," he said as he began to turn away. However, he noticed her tears before she could wipe them and he paused. "Are you alright?"

She nodded pathetically but the tears just kept coming. Hans placed the basket on a nearby table and came over. In the next instant, she was in his arms. It was the first time he held her after his confession about his childhood. Anna clutched at him desperately and cried openly without words. Hans said nothing as well but his tight embrace said enough.

Finally, she was able to calm down and Hans handed her a handkerchief. She blew her nose on it and Hans held her chin up to stare at her.

"You'll be okay. You're the bravest person I know," he said. "Maybe you should leave the hospital like the others. Go to Corona. Stay with cousin Rapunzel for the holidays. You've done more than enough for me and all these men."

"Not enough," she shook her head. "I need to stay and help then maybe then God will give him back to me. I can't bear it he's dead! I can't go home to my children without him! I told them when we left their Papa's off to win a war. Here look." She took out one of the letters Elsa sent that enclosed a drawing made by her son Agdar. It depicted a stick figure of Kristoff in uniform with his hand in a salute. Underneath were the words 'Lt. Kristoff Bjorgman, hero of 1812.' The writing was made by her daughter Idunn who can already spell properly at age four.

"What will I say to them if I come home without their Papa?"

Hans stared at the drawing and seemed to recoil at it. He abruptly pulled away from her. "Anna I..." he said but it ended there. He began to pace, his hands clenching and unclenching in a manner that was so unlike him.

"Hans... is there something wrong?" she asked, thinking the drawing must have triggered something about his unpleasant childhood.

Hans had opened up to her over the last few weeks about his family. Being ignored by his brothers was only one of the abuses he received. Some of them were cruel to the point of being violent. There was the time they tricked him into diving into a lake to retrieve a ball they lost. His brothers left him and Hans almost drowned had not Lars passed by and fished him out in time. There was his father's birthday where his brothers got drunk and threw bottles at him for fun. And then there were the verbal mockeries. His brothers called him the "son of a whore" to his face after news of his mother's affair with Anna's Papa became common knowledge in the Southern Isles court. Throughout his childhood Hans was belittled as the cast off son whose mother was the mistress of two kings and his father did nothing to stop it. It was a wonder Hans managed to survive at all with such a family.

Hans stood still, his back to her and said nothing that Anna thought he might not have heard her.

"Hans?"

"ANNA! Anna, come quickly!" Fria came bursting in through doors. "Something wonderful just arrived!"

Anna's heart immediately jumped. "Is it Kristoff? He's alive?"

Fria immediately stopped and frowned slightly. "Errr... no, I'm sorry. But it's a delivery of supplies and gifts from Arendelle."

"Elsa!" Anna gasped. She no longer bothered to wait for her friend but took off running towards the hospital entrance. Elsa must have managed to send out a last minute package before the ports closed. She had written Elsa about their dwindling supplies on the first week of December and she even included the news about Hans being here. Although, she explained to Elsa she had forgiven Hans and that they had become friends, she was careful not to say anything more private about him and his relationship through their Papa. Details such as those were just too intimate to be explained via letter and she did remember her sister's warning that she should be careful what she wrote. Instead, Anna focused more on the sad plight of the hospital and her decision to stay on until after New Year. Elsa surely understood her need and must have sent this for her. If she did, she would certainly send a letter as well with news.

Anna burst out into the courtyard and found a covered wagon filled with crates bearing the Arendelle crest. A man stood before it with his back to her and was ordering two men to unload the crates. He was tall, lean and had the same strawberry blonde shade of hair as she had. For a moment, she was reminded of her own Papa for he was built the same as this man. However, the spell ended when he spoke in a harsh, almost sneering tone.

"Be careful with that one! Those are medicines that are worth more than what you'll earn in ten years and would cost you another ten for the shipping cost!"

Anna frowned at him and cleared her throat. The man turned around and Anna was astonished once more to see that he looked like an older version of Hans down to the shade of eyes. The man seemed equally surprised to see her and stared at her from head to foot in a way that made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Madam?" he greeted, his tone hinted of snobbery.

Anna kept her chin up. "Princess Anna of Arendelle. I believe I haven't had the pleasure of your acquaintance."

His manner immediately changed at the moment she mentioned her title. He smiled openly in the manner that reminded her of Hans the first time they met. "Princess Anna! A true delight to meet you. I am Prince—"

"Holford!" It was Hans who spoke and in a moment he was beside her.

"Hans," Holford said evenly. "So glad to see you're alive and well."

Hans said nothing. Anna imagined he was too busy thinking of something to say that wouldn't bring up unpleasant memories. Hans did tell her Holford was brother number six and was one of his siblings who pretended he was invisible for two years. He was the same brother who was responsible for setting fire to Hans' wooden toy soldier collection, the last birthday present Anna's Papa had given Hans as a child. It was one of the cruelest things his brothers had done to him and Hans never quite forgave him for it. Holford never even bothered to apologize for that incident and never showed any remorse.

"He's not completely well yet but he's recovering under my  _care_ ," Anna said to Holford, with emphasis on "care". It was her way of telling him Hans was under her protection and she was not going to let him abuse his younger brother.

If Holford sensed her threat he did not show it. "You have my deepest gratitude Princess Anna. My brothers and I were quite apprehensive that we lost Hans with no news coming in from the front these months."

"I was never lost Holford. I was sent away," Hans replied scathingly. "You can't lose something you deliberately threw out."

Holford's face immediately looked apologetic. "Hans, I am sorry if you felt that way. I'm not here for a fight and I'm sure Princess Anna is inconvenienced enough standing out here. May I ask if we can speak somewhere comfortable inside? I have news for her as well from our sister."

Anna noted his mention of "our sister" in reference to Elsa and somehow felt insulted that he would dare associate himself with her family after what he did to his own brother. However, Anna said nothing and merely led the way inside.

The parlor where the hospital clerks entertained visitors was empty at this time and it already had a roaring fire going so she brought them there. Fria, offered to bring them tea and closed the door to give them privacy.

"So what brings you here, Prince Holford?," Anna asked. "This is a long way from the Southern Isles."

"Not too far for me. I am the Southern Isles ambassador to Prussia. A trip to Warsaw is only a little distance. And please do call me Holford. We are family after all."

Anna knew he was expecting her to reply that he should call her just "Anna" as well but she said nothing. Something about this man made her uncomfortable. She didn't want to give him the benefit of being on a first name basis just yet.

"Why are you here Holford?" Hans went straight to the point. "The army is on the march back to France. You're going the wrong way."

"Oh no, brother dear, you see Caleb sent me over to help supervise the retreat. This war left us in quite a mess. I'm here as an administrative visitor to ensure all our citizens still in Poland gets repatriated back to the Southern Isles."

"Repatriated?" Hans frowned. "Why would Caleb need to do that? We're in allied territory."

"For now," Holford replied seriously. "That might not last much longer. You've been so isolated out here for the last few weeks that you might not have heard yet. Tensions are rising all over Europe after this fiasco of an invasion. There's talk that Austria and Prussia are about to switch sides. If that happens, there might be conflict among the ranks and our poor soldiers can get caught in the middle. I'm here to make sure our citizens get safely out before things get bad. I have letters of safe passage for every single Southern Islander conscripted in this war. That includes you Hans."

"So you're here to take him home?" Anna asked.

"Yes, and you as well Princess." He pulled out a thick package from a large bag he carried and laid it on the table between them. These are personal letters from Elsa and your own documents of safe passage obtained from every state you need to pass through until you get to Copenhagen. There's also one for every Arendellian not yet declared dead."

Anna opened the package. It was just as he said. Underneath Elsa's sealed letters was a neat pile of certificates of safe conduct for her and more than a hundred other Arendellians. Kristoff's document was placed directly underneath hers. "Elsa sent this to you?"

"Of course. She sent it through Lars. He and his wife Amelia were spending the holidays in Arendelle with their children. Elsa told Lars you had written that Hans was alive and with you so Lars sent word to Caleb about it. When Caleb heard, he ordered me here immediately. I was more than happy to bring you Elsa's letter and some supplies that our compassionate sister so generously prepared. Extracting additional letters of safe conduct for the Arendellians was no trouble at all."

Anna knew she should feel grateful to him but she still couldn't shake the feeling of doubt around Holford. "Thank you," Anna said evenly. "My people and I appreciate it."

"It's nothing dear sister," Holford replied. "As I've said, we are now family through Lars, Amelia and Elsa. We can put any unpleasantness behind us." He glanced at Hans and Anna understood what he meant.

_Maybe he's trying to apologize not just for what happened between me and Hans but for his own offences to his brother. If Hans can change, perhaps he could too. I should give him a chance._

"As family, Caleb and the rest of our brothers are committed to ensure you are safely returned home," Holford went on. "I have arranged for your transport out of Warsaw on the 26th."

"The 26th?" Anna questioned as she remembered her vow to stay on. "It's so soon, just after Christmas. I can still stay..."

Anna abruptly stopped as Hans shook his head. "Anna, I know you want to continue helping in the hospital but it might not be safe for you here anymore."

"My brother is right," Holford seconded. "There have been reports that the Russians are moving west and they might not stop at their own territory. It won't be long before they get here and another war may break out. When that happens we might not even know which country we're allied with and which ones will allow us safe entry through their borders. It's best to get out while we can."

Anna felt the panic rise within her as she realized that things could get as drastic as that.  _What of Kristoff? He's still out there. What if he gets caught in this and he can't get out? I need to find him!_

"I can't... I can't leave. My husband… My people… I need to find all of them." She hated to beg Holford, but perhaps he's the only one who can help her now. She got up from her chair and stood in front of him. "Please take me with you. We can go to the camps and hospitals all over Poland together then maybe I can find him!"

Holford shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

Anna turned to Hans and gave him a pleading look but he also shook his head. He stood up as well and clenched and unclenched his fist again before he spoke without looking at her. "Anna, the best way you can help your people is to leave Warsaw and go home."

"Why?" she challenged him. "I'm not afraid!"

"It's not about being brave Anna," Hans replied before he slowly turned to face her. He led her to sit down and he knelt before her, his face grave. "You're a princess and Elsa's heir. If you get captured by the Russians or any state that switches sides, they'll use you to convince Elsa to switch sides as well. If Elsa does that, the French officers can retaliate on any Arendellian soldier left under their command."

Anna's mouth fell open as the meaning of Hans' words sank in.  _I could be used to hurt Kristoff! To hurt my own people!_

Holford stood as well and gently offered his hand to hers. "It's alright. I'll be visiting the camps and the hospitals all across Poland and Prussia over the next few days to distribute the documents and facilitate the transports for both the Southern Islanders and the Arendelians. If I find Prince Kristoff I will personally see to his safety."

Anna felt a little relieved at that.  _I suppose I can't do anything about it but leave._  She nodded at him and muttered a barely audible "Thank you."

"You need not worry dear sister," Holford continued. "You just go ahead with Hans to Copenhagen. Uncle Fredrik has already agreed to host you both for the New Year in his winter palace. From there, Hans can personally escort you to Arendelle when the ports reopen."

"Escort her to Arendelle?" Hans asked. "I am to go to Arendelle?"

"Elsa has extended an invitation for you to come to Arendelle," Holford explained. "Here's the official invite."

Holford brought out another piece of sealed paper and handed it to Hans. Anna caught the words "Colonel Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen" written in what was clearly Kai's neat handwriting. Hans carefully broke the seal and read through the letter.

"She invited me to stay... indefinitely," he said as confusion marred his features. He looked to Anna and a silent question passed between them. Hans was wondering what exactly did Anna wrote to Elsa enough for her sister to offer an invitation to him.

Anna merely shrugged. She did plan on asking Elsa permission for Hans to visit Arendelle but she intended to do it once she returned home and explained the entire situation to her sister. She imagined Elsa would have some reservations on welcoming Hans and she already readied her arguments. She was quite astonished that she didn't need to argue with her sister at all.

"There you are Hans, it's settled. You'll take our sister Anna home as soon as the ports of Arendelle reopen and—."

"I can't," Hans interrupted.

"Why not?" Anna asked. She was beginning to imagine bringing Hans and introducing him to Elsa as their "should-have-been-brother." She can't think of why he would protest now.

"Holford, you know I can't just go anywhere I want. I'm still serving a sentence under the French army. I can come with you to Copenhagen and report to the regional war office there. But I have to stay until they reassign me, most likely to Paris with the Emperor."

Anna had forgotten about that and felt extremely disappointed. Now that she had gotten it into her head that Hans could be part of her family, it would was cruel to leave him behind to face another possible battle with their own former allies.

"No you don't have to Hans," Holford grinned. "Not anymore. I didn't just come here to bring letters."

He pulled another document from his coat and gave it to Hans.

"This is from our brother Caleb. He's granted you a full pardon. You're a free man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another historical note to give this chapter proper context. The Russian Invasion of 1812 ended in December with the French army withdrawing and the Russians chasing after them. By January 1813, the Russians took over Warsaw and in just a few weeks the War of the 6th Coalition began with Russia, Austria, Prussia, Poland, Sweden some German states going against France. I haven't found any historical narratives how that went on among the populations of these countries, but you can probably imagine that the weeks before the declaration of war by the 6th Coalition must have been a very confusing and dangerous time among the ranks of the diverse French army. With such ambiguity among the allies, both Caleb and Elsa would certainly try to get their citizens out as soon as possible.
> 
> The "Uncle Fredrik"' mentioned here by Holford refers to King Fredrik VI of Denmark-Norway. In this story, he's a common relation by both Anna and Hans.
> 
> The idea of Hans and Elsa being able to make beautiful paper snowflakes came to me when I saw an interview with the cast of the Frozen Broadway show. The actors were asked to make their own snowflakes using paper and a pair of scissors. The actress that played Elsa, created a perfectly made three-dimensional snowflake, while the actor that plays Hans created probably the most intricate fractal pattern of a folded cutout among the entire cast.
> 
> Thanks again for those who keep reading and reviewing this story. I appreciate your words very much and they encourage me a lot to keep this story going.


	13. Christmas Gifts

Anna leaned over Hans as he read the document Holford gave him.  She skimmed over the page, taking in just the important details.  It was indeed a royal pardon signed by King Caleb of the Southern Isles barely two weeks ago.  Anna's elation rose once more.  Hans was free and can come with her, perhaps even live with her and Elsa in Arendelle. 

_Oh this is going to be so much fun!  I'll show him everything he had missed out.  Maybe I can get Elsa to adopt him as a brother.  Wait, is that even possible? Oh well, I'll leave that up to Elsa.  She'll think of something._

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she noticed Hans' baffled expression.

"I've only served five years of my sentence, Holford.  I still have five more to go.  Why would Caleb grant this to me now?"

Anna elbowed him to hint he should just shut up.  _It's a gift he should just take it._

Holford smiled generously at him.  "Hans, you may think Caleb and the rest of us have forgotten you, but we didn't.  In fact, Caleb had regular reports sent to him from the French war office about your progress.  He's rather impressed that you've done well over the last five years.  He's only heard good things about you and a commendation from the Emperor himself is quite an impressive feat.  Caleb decided you've learned enough from your mistakes and it's time to give you an opportunity to prove yourself a reformed man that can do well for our country and the family."

"Hans this is wonderful!" Anna exclaimed before she turned to Holford.  "Well Caleb is right.  Hans is sorry for everything in the past and we've already sorted out our differences.  He's a good man underneath and I'm proud to call him a friend."

"I am so glad to hear that from you.  I had hoped our families can be truly united with such continued amiable relations that can only grow closer with affection," Holford said as he offered his hand.  "Will you accept dear sister this humble offer of friendship?"

Anna no longer hesitated and shook his hand gratefully.  _Maybe, Hans' brothers are sorry for how they treated him before and this is their way of making up to him._ "Of course, Holford.  It would be my pleasure," she replied.

"Holford, can I speak to you alone?" Hans asked evenly before a knock came from the door.  Anna let Fria.  She brought in a steaming teapot and three cups.   Anna decided it would best to make a graceful exit to give the brothers some privacy.

"I think I should go," Anna said.  "I'm eager to read Elsa's news."

"Of course, of course," Holford said cheerfully.  "She also sent several gifts, I'm sure you would like to see them too."

"Well thank you for bringing them," Anna replied.  She formally curtsied and exited the room.

She wasn't lying when she said she was eager to read Elsa's letter.  She itched to tear open the envelope but Fria started gushing excitedly as soon as they were in the hall.

"Oh Anna, come see the supplies your sister sent!  There are crates loaded with morphine and laudanum, linen bandages, and dozens of woolen blankets.  It's truly a Christmas miracle!"

Anna couldn't help but be infected by Fria's excitement.  She followed her friend to the lobby where the overjoyed staff was busy checking the new deliveries.

"Anna you must thank your sister, she is truly God-sent to have given us this much!" Sister Agatha cried out to her.

Anna blushed at the praise and said their appreciation will be acknowledged.  Anna did not have the heart to tell her nursing superior yet that she will be leaving soon.  For now, she just wanted her to enjoy this little pleasure of having new supplies. 

The nurses who helped out in unloading discovered that the crates contained more than medical supplies.  One of the boxes held knitted scarves labeled with the thoughtful words in Elsa’s elegant script: "For the tireless Nursing Staff who help heal our men."  Another box contained bottles of jam and pickled herring that delighted the kitchen staff.

Anna thought Elsa really outdid herself in sending so many gifts.  She must have gotten the entire village in Arendelle to contribute in making all of these.

"Here's another crate and there's a note!" Sophie exclaimed and the rest of the staff looked up to her.  She held out a piece of paper and read aloud:  "These gifts were made by the orphans and widows of Arendelle.   Their menfolk will not be home with them this Christmas but they wish for the men who fought alongside their loved ones to have something to keep them warm."

The box contained dozens of pairs of hand-woven socks, gloves and hats.  Anna felt herself choke with tears and she wasn't alone.  All the other nurses began crying as they realized what the gifts meant.  One by one they began approaching Anna, hugging her and telling her how touched they were by her people's generosity.  Even Sophie who had been outright cold since Hans started ignoring her, came up to tell Anna to send her thanks to her sister.

Anna treasured each grateful word and realized soon she will be leaving these wonderful women who had been like her sisters in these troubling times.

"Anna, there's a package here addressed to you," Sister Agatha said before handling Anna a rectangular package wrapped in brown paper and tied neatly with a piece of string.

Anna couldn't help but feel excited.  Elsa didn't forget to send her a Christmas present.  She excused herself and went off to a quiet corner to open her package.  Inside, there was a pink knitted sweater embroidered with the floral crests of Arendelle.  The fine stitches could only have been made by Gerda who had the finest hand for embroidery Anna knew.  However tucked neatly into the sweater's sleeves was something even more precious.  It was a pair of miniature paintings of her twins. 

 _Oh Elsa! You painted my babies for me! They're so beautiful,_ she thought as she stared at them.  Elsa had a talent for painting and her portraits always looked vividly life-like.  Anna spent several minutes just staring at them.  _They look so much older now and so much like Kristoff.   Elsa, this is the best Christmas present ever!_

She decided she had to read Elsa's letter now but before she could reach into her pocket she noticed there was another item underneath her sweater.  She pulled it out and realized it was another sweater in navy blue accented with snowflake patterns on the collars, sleeves and hems.  It was too large for her and there was a distinct masculine quality about the design.  It reminded her of the sweaters her Mama used to make for Papa that he wore on nights he spent with just family when he didn't have to dress so formally in front of the court.  Anna was wondering why Elsa would send her a man's sweater when she noticed a tag loosely stitched into one edge of the hem.

For Hans, the tag read in Elsa's handwriting.

_Elsa sent Hans a gift? First she sends him an invitation to Arendelle, now a gift just like mine?   Is Elsa a mind-reader now?  How in the world did she know I wanted to treat Hans like our brother?_

The answer, she realized, may lie in the letter in her pocket.  She drew it out and carefully released the seal.

 

Dearest Anna,

I am so glad to hear you are safe and well. I want you to know that Agdar and Idunn are doing fine.  They miss you  so much and every night they ask me to sing to them the lullaby you and Kristoff wrote for them.  I enclosed paintings I made of them so you would know how much they've changed since you've left.  It was quite a challenge to paint them as they wouldn't stand still for long periods.  They're now at an age where they get into much mischief. Last week Gerda caught them stealing the cookie jar from the kitchen and they even got Olaf as a lookout.  Another time they woke me in the wee hours of the morning to ask me to make them a winter wonderland in the ballroom.  We ended up ruining the carpets.  No worries Anna, they maybe a handful at times but they're precious angels when they I need them to.  We rang the yule bell to greet the season and they were perfectly gracious little co-hosts when we had some visiting dignitaries for a special ball right afterwards.

 

Anna had to pause and smile a little at Elsa's description of her children.  She couldn't wait to see her little ones again and perhaps even join them in doing some mischief.  She read on:

 

 I was quite concerned to hear the hospital you work with had dwindling supplies.  I told the Arendelle Association of War Widows (that's a support group I formed after we held a funeral mass for the latest batch of killed soldiers) about your predicament. These gracious ladies immediately set to work with their children and friends to make the gifts and supplies I sent over.  I hope they tide your hospital over for the holidays.

 

 _Oh Elsa it's going to help a lot,_ she thought _.  Your medicines are a life saver and the other gifts are more precious than gold._

 

Anna, I must tell you though, that you must not stay there.  Things are getting complicated now and I'm not sure how long our alliances can hold.  I have asked Caleb through Lars to help secure letters of safe passage for all Arendellians still in Poland and Prussia.  Caleb has agreed to have his brother Holford, come to you personally and facilitate the withdrawal of our citizens to Copenhagen.  Please do not hesitate to leave when he asks.  Uncle Frederick has agreed to host you in Denmark until after the new year.  I know you prefer to go to Corona to be with Cousin Rapunzel but I would rather you remain in Danish-Norwegian territory until you can get a ship to Arendelle.  Let Hans accompany you home by January.  I have provided an invitation for him as well.

Be safe my dearest and I hope to see you soon.

Your loving sister,

Elsa

 

There was nothing in the last part of Elsa's letter that told her anything new.  _I guess if I want answers, I will have to wait to talk to her.  But maybe Holford knows something. I might as well check on the brothers and give Hans his gift._

She carefully folded the gifts and walked back to the parlor.  The door to it was still closed but Anna noticed it was slightly ajar.  She raised her hand to knock but stopped midway as Hans voice floated through the crack, loud and angry:

"No, I won't do this! Caleb can find someone else! I'm through!"

Anna’s first instinct was to barge in and find out what was happening, but she stopped herself in time and remained frozen in place.

"Hans, you didn't think your early pardon was a gift, did you?" came Holford's condescending reply.  "If you won't do this, Caleb can take back your pardon just as easily."

Anna recoiled at the words _.  Hans’ brothers were using his pardon to force him to do something for them!  Something he’s not willing to do. They have not changed at all. They were still the cruel men Hans described them._

"Then tell him to take it back!" Hans challenged.  "I would rather spend another five years following Napoleon in his stupid wars than do what Caleb is asking."

Anna’s heart pounded with dread.  _Whatever Caleb is asking must be horrible for Hans to prefer to go back into hellish battle._

"Now Hans, let's be reasonable," came Holford's reply in soothing tones.  "You don't have to say no outright.  Give it some thought over the holidays.  Think about what you've always wanted.  Caleb is willing to give you just that and all our brothers will back you up."

"What does Caleb know of what I want?" Hans spat.

"Hans, you may hide your true desires from most people but we know you well enough.  You've wanted this since you were a child and I think you still do.  Besides, what's the alternative if you don't agree? The tides are turning little brother.  Napoleon's failure in this campaign is going to cost him dearly.  There's already talk of forming a new coalition of nations against him with Russia in the lead.  When that time comes we may have to switch sides.  You should too if you know what's best for you."

_Switch sides? They’re talking about treason against France!  Against our allies!_

"I'm aware of that," Hans said and he fell silent for a moment.  "Loyalties only go far if you're winning.  That's always been the Westergaard way.  Well if you've forgotten I'm not a Westergaard anymore.  Caleb took away that name from me.  So he can find another Westergaard to do his dirty work." 

_I knew you still have some decency in you.  Don’t give in, Hans.  Stick to your principles._

"You can be one again if you do this," Holford offered.  "In fact it's rather imperative you become one again to do this."

Hans scoffed audibly.  "Not interested."

_I’m so proud of you._

"Well don't say no outright.  Think about it first." 

There was a sound of approaching footsteps and Anna knew she should leave before she was found eavesdropping.

"Holford wait!" Hans cried out and Anna was glad she hadn't left immediately.  The footsteps moved away from the door and Hans spoke:

"Look, I'm not saying I'll do it, but I will consider it... if you do something for me."

_What? Hans, what are you doing?_

There was a long moment of silence.  Anna waited for bated breath for another sound.  It was Holford who broke the silence with a mirthless laugh.

"I knew you're still a Westergaard through and through Hans.  You just want to cut a deal.  Now that, I can understand," Holford replied, the amusement in voice was apparent.  "Well I'm listening."

There was a sound of shuffling paper then Hans spoke again.  "I want you to find this file for me when you visit the administrative war offices in this region.  Find that file I indicated before it reaches the regional office in Copenhagen or the main one in Paris.  I want you to destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Holford asked. 

"Steal it, burn it or tear it to pieces. I don't care how you do it.  Just make sure it no longer exists before it gets filed in the main office or disseminated," replied Hans.

"What's so important about this file?"

Anna was glad Holford asked for she was wondering the same thing.

"You'll understand when you find it,” Hans replied.  “When you do, send me word with a single name.   You'll know the name, once you've read the document.   If you send me the right name, I'll know you've done what I ask."

"You're being mysteriously confident about this, little brother.  What makes you think I would purge an official military document for you without even an assurance you're going to comply with Caleb's demand?"

There was a long pause and Anna bit her nails in anticipation until Hans spoke again:

"Let's just say if you really want me to succeed in doing Caleb's bidding that document must never be found."

_Great! That didn't reveal much at all._

"Hans, you certainly know how to pique my interest.  Alright, I'll see what I can do.  But if you're leading me on a wild goose chase—"

"I'm not," Hans asserted.  "It's important, I promise."

"Very well, I'll leave you to your convalescence and I hope to see you on the other side of this war."

Anna no longer stayed to hear Hans reply.  The footsteps have started again and she hurriedly raced to the end of the corridor and out of sight before she heard the door swing open.  She listened in as Holford's footsteps receded towards the opposite end of the hallway from where she stood.

It was only when there was silence once more that she breathed easily and pondered at what she just heard.

_What exactly did Caleb ask Hans to do?  And what document needs to be purged from the military files for Hans to succeed in accomplishing that task?_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the cunning Westergaards are back in the game and ready to take the political spin of this story into action! I always love a mysterious ambiguous Hans to keep Anna on her toes.  Any guesses what the Westergaards are planning and what Hans is trying to hide?


	14. At a New Year's Eve Ball

_Amalienborg Palace_

_Copenhagen, Denmark_

_December 31, 1812_

 

Anna shook her head at the liveried servant when he offered her another glass of champagne and candied fruit from a gilded tray.  The sight of it made her feel a little ill that she had to turn away.  However, everywhere she turned she caught sight of something else that made her just as sick: swirls of silk and expensive lace, twinkling jewels adorning women's necks and ears, and alcohol in expensive glasses, consumed or abandoned without a second glance.

For months, she had been living on rationed food, sleeping in a simple mattress in a room she shared with five other girls and nursing men who had to be content with whatever medicines or little alcohol they can spare to ease their pain.  Supplies were scarce, money for it was limited.  Yet here in Amalienborg, the palace of her Uncle Frederick, it seemed like a different world, untouched by the horrors of war and the deplorable inhumane conditions she had witnessed.  It seemed such a crime to be surrounded by so much luxury when back at the hospital, it was a struggle just to get enough linen for wound dressings.  Anna found herself contemplating the value of the items she can see before her. 

_A pearl earring that served no purpose but to adorn an ear could have purchased a dozen bottles of morphine.  That glass of brandy that dandy just spilled carelessly into the carpet could have eased a poor soldier's suffering during an amputation.  My own dress, six yards of cloth for the skirt alone, can be made into bandages enough to dress the wounds of a dozen men._

She never thought about such things before.  Anna loved parties.  Ever since she experienced her first ball at the night of her sister's coronation, Anna always looked forward to social gatherings like this one.  She adored putting on colorful gowns, partaking of delicious food, drinking champagne and dancing for hours to music by an orchestra.  Copenhagen's New Year Eve's ball was everything Anna imagined a fairytale night could be and more.  It was certainly more lavish than the ones they held back at home. The furnishings of her Uncle Frederick's palace alone were stunning with their luxury and they were even more magnificent with the added holiday decorations.

Anna and Hans arrived only yesterday evening at Copenhagen.  Her first concern was to drop by at the French regional war office where she hoped she could find new information on Kristoff and her other missing citizens.  However, she found that the office was closed for the holidays and would not open until the first week of January.  Hans promised to accompany her to inquire in the office after the New Year and it was only after his reassurance that she allowed herself to relax.

“Relax” was a relative term for as soon as they arrived at their Uncle Frederick's grand residence, her cousin Caroline pulled her into the preparations for their annual New Year eve's ball.   Anna spent the past few hours getting fitted, laced, powdered and getting her hair tortured into some elaborate coiffure.  Her cousin claimed she needed to wear the latest in Parisian fashion for it was what everyone would expect of a princess.  Anna begrudgingly allowed her vivacious nineteen-year-old cousin to turn her into a doll for Caroline reminded her of herself when she was that age.  Only now, Anna realized how shallow she had been when she thought only of how pretty her hair would look in a fancy gown and matching little heels when there were other things that mattered more in the world. 

_Like thousands of lives lost in the numerous battles of this war and the possibility of another war looming ahead when there were still so many missing,_ she thought sadly. 

Only she seemed to think of such things.  All the guests here appeared content to be dancing, laughing and drinking as if the last several months did not happen.  Even Hans had left her side hours ago and had been swept away by several people as soon as he entered the ballroom.     She was rather surprised how smoothly he blended into the crowd.  Women eyed him everywhere he went and there were always men that wanted to talk to him.

Right now, Hans was dancing with Cousin Caroline and she looked like she was already half in love with him.  Anna couldn't help but feel a little worried at how easy he caught people's attention and maintained it. It reminded her of the first time they met and how he used his charm to disarm her.  It brought to mind her apprehension on what she overheard between Hans and Holford.  Anna didn't have the courage to confront him and admit she had been eavesdropping that day.  She told herself she trusted Hans as a changed man that would choose to do what is right.  So she said nothing to him. 

Hans had been pleasantly gentlemanly these last few days it was easy to forget the whole ugly episode she overheard.  They spent Christmas day together making cookies for the patients and hospital staff.  They stayed up late dressed in their matching Elsa-sent sweaters and told holiday stories by the fire.    On the road to Copenhagen, they passed the time playing card games, telling stories or singing duets.  During the frequent stopovers while they waited to change horses, Hans even gave her fencing lessons.  He was turning into the brother she had always dreamed of.

Tonight, however, Hans' familiar charming persona was giving Anna doubt.  _Was he just acting all this time with me?_ She wondered.

The dance ended and Hans bowed gracefully at his partner.  His eyes immediately roamed the room until he met her gaze.  Relief immediately etched his features and Anna realized he had been looking for her.  He started making his way towards her when the orchestra began again to signal the start of a waltz. 

_He's going to ask me for a dance,_ she realized.  She waited for him to approach but halfway through another male guest clapped him on the shoulder and grabbed his attention.  He only had time to shoot her an apologetic look before he was led away to converse with a group of elderly gentlemen.

"Princess, may I have this dance?" A voice said from behind her.  Anna turned around and met a tall, elegant man who gracefully bowed and held out his hand.  He seemed to be in his early thirties with dark hair and eyes.  Like the rest of the guests this evening, he was dazzling with medals and his trousers fit tightly against his legs.  Anna couldn't find the appeal with this Parisian fashion of making the men look like peacocks.  She preferred the simplicity of the men's army uniforms.  However, she refrained from any comments as she tried to remember who he was.  He looked oddly familiar and she knew she must have met him before but she couldn't remember where precisely.

"Lord Nyberg of the Northern Isles, your highness," he said as if he read her confusion.  "King Frederick re-introduced us at dinner."

"Oh, of course," Anna replied with a polite curtsy.  She remembered now that he was the Northern Isles ambassador.  This was not the first time they've met.  He was a guest during Elsa's wedding.  He was one of the men who stood by and tried to keep a straight face while Elsa's groom got wasted during the reception and nearly collapsed on the way to her bedchamber.  Anna suspected he was rather embarrassed of his prince's behavior that night. She recalled seeing him and several companions from the Northern Isles shake their heads when Knudsvig was brought away from the reception hall.  He looked so much relaxed now by comparison.

"We've met before at my sister's wedding," said Anna.

"Indeed and it is a pleasure to meet you again, Princess Anna," Lord Nyberg replied pleasantly.  "I heard from his majesty that you arrived yesterday.  He told me how you unselfishly volunteered to be a nurse in Warsaw these many months.  I must admit, I was astonished to have heard such a thing."

Anna frowned slightly. Most people of her class reacted the same way he did.  It was like helping other people was something inappropriate for a princess.  She was about to open her mouth and correct his perception but he went on.

"Your charity is admirable your highness.  I am deeply moved by your kindness to our men in the front.  To hear you tirelessly work for the care of others warms my heart and offers some sparks of hope in these bleak days ahead of us."

Anna immediately felt some kinship with the man.  He seemed to be the first person she has met all night that had an inkling of the losses they had in this war.  She noticed that he wore a black broach on his lapel, a symbol of mourning.  She realized this man must have lost someone too.

"I'm sorry I can't help but notice that you are wearing a mourning pin sire.  I offer condolences," she said sincerely.

The man nodded solemnly.  "The condolences are mutual between us I suppose.  I have lost a good friend and you, a brother-in-law."

Anna's reeled with this sudden news.  "Knudsvig is dead?!" She didn't exactly know how to feel about that. Certainly, someone's death is not something to rejoice about but Anna could not but feel relief that her sister would now be free of that horrible man.

Lord Nyberg also seemed startled.  "Oh no, no! I am so sorry. I thought you knew! My apologies, your highness.  Your sister's husband is alive and well.  It's his elder brother and my good friend, Magnus, I'm afraid that we lost two months ago in battle." He shook his head and Anna could see the pain on his expression.  "There was never a finer crown prince than Magnus and I'm not just saying that because he was my childhood friend.   He was a brave commander in his own right and the people of the Northern Isles adored him.  He was everything that was good and worthy of the crown."

Anna could only nod in agreement.  She had never personally met Magnus but Elsa regularly corresponded with him and spoke of him with high regard.  He was the one who convinced his father to send additional tons of grain when Arendelle was threatened with famine   He seemed to be a kindhearted man and so different from his brother Knudsvig.

"It is a sad, sad time for us Northern Islanders," Lord Nyberg continued.  "To have lost our prince who had so much promise and to be left with his brother..."  He stopped abruptly as he seemed to realize he said something wrong.  "Forgive me.   I should not have spoken so openly."

Anna shook her head however as she fathomed his meaning.  She was well aware how Knudsvig was perceived in Arendelle.  She did not doubt he had the same poor reputation in his own country.  She remembered well Lord Nyberg's look of shame at Elsa and Knudsvig's wedding.

"You need not fret sire. I understand well," she assured him.

He sighed deeply. "Ahhh Princess, you are most kind and I feel I find in you someone who truly cares.  If it's not too much trouble, would you mind if I speak to you in private in the matter regarding Knudsvig and your sister?"

Anna was curious exactly about that for she had so little news from Elsa on how her marriage was faring.  She immediately agreed and followed after the Northern Isles ambassador to a quieter corner of the ballroom.

"Princess," he began.  "You must know by now our situation in the Northern Isles is quite dire with the loss of Magnus. I hate to speak ill of Knudsvig but as you are family, I am sure you understand.  He is not one we look forward to leading us through these troubling times."

"Leading?"  Anna almost laughed.  _Knudsvig couldn't lead anything but a party of gamblers like himself._    "Why would he need to lead? And lead what?"

Lord Nyberg seemed puzzled by her question.  "Why the Northern Isles of course."

"The Northern Isles?" Anna muttered, still confused.

Lord Nyberg heaved a sigh.  "Our good King Charles, bless him, still lives.  However, he is getting on in years.  He had been planning to recall Magnus from the front to take over as his regent when news of Magnus' death reached him.  I can tell you the loss of his son devastated him and contributed even more to his ill health. It has likewise sent our country into panic unlike anything in our history.  That fear stems from Knudsvig becoming the next king."

"The next king?" Anna repeated as the implication of those words hit her in full force.  _If Elsa's father-in-law dies, she becomes Queen of the Northern Isles!_

Lord Nyberg looked at her carefully.  "I think you understand now the cause for concern.  You must be aware that Knudsvig is not viewed kindly by the people of the Northern Isles.  His reputation as a gambler and a wastrel has been common knowledge for years.  Should he ascend as king, he will find little love or support to his reign.  I fear his own generals may take it upon themselves to unseat him even before he is crowned."

Anna's heart clenched fearfully.  _If the people in the Northern Isles hate Knudsvig so much, would that hate cross over to Elsa too?  Would she be placed in danger as well?  Will Arendelle be forced to go to war if Elsa stands by Knudsvig's side?_

Lord Nyberg offered a comforting hand as he eyed her with concern.  "I see I have upset you.  I beg your pardon, your highness for bringing unpleasantness on this eve, but it is something that I must speak of.  I am a loyal son of the Northern Isles and to its royal family.  I will die to defend its crown and prevent it from ruin.  We are in the brink of a possible civil war, but the good news is we have time in our hands and a means to avert such disasters.  You princess, may be able to help me."

"I? Help you?" Anna asked.  "How?"

"You have your sister's ear and her affection.  If you can explain to her the situation, then she will listen."

"I'll do what I can," Anna said hesitantly.  "But what do you want me to ask her?"

Lord Nyberg swallowed hard as if what he was about to say was of a delicate matter.  He stared at her slowly then spoke.  "She must have a son with Knudsvig.  The sooner, the better."

Anna had known that Elsa was being pressured to produce an heir, but it was only now she fully realized the importance of that matter to the Northern Isles.   "I can speak to Elsa, but no one can be certain she'll have a son."

"Please," Lord Nyberg pleaded.  "Ask her to try.  It is no secret theirs is a marriage that is less than ideal and your sister has had to endure unthinkable humiliation with Knudsvig's ill treatment of her—"

"Knudsvig's been hurting her?" Anna blurted indignantly.  She balled her fists in anger.  _How dare he? If he hurt my sister, I'm breaking his face!_

Lord Nyberg nodded sadly.  "I suppose you have not yet heard but I've received regular reports from Arendelle from our own channels.  He hasn't hurt her physically.  No, he would never had the opportunity or the courage to do that with her powers.  However, Knudsvig's abuse of your sister is a more subtle kind but just as cruel.  He returned to Arendelle Castle several months ago on orders of his father.  However, he did so in the company of several of his friends who had the same ill repute as he.  They turned one wing of the castle into their own gambling den for several days.  Queen Elsa had to turn half the castle into an icebox just to get them to leave."

_Serves them right for besmirching my home!  I hope Elsa turned them all into popsicles._

"It did not end there.  They may have evacuated from the castle but Knudsvig simply moved his gaming house into another building nearby.  Even worst, he brought his mistress with him and shamelessly flaunted her in public without regard to Queen Elsa’s feelings."

_That bastard!_

"Since he became heir apparent, Knudsvig has been receiving his own generous pension from the Northern Isles coffers and no longer relies on the Arendellian stipend.  That gives him the opportunity for more mischief.  He's been buying out Arendellian courtiers to his side, men who had previously lost favor with your sister.  I'm afraid they've been spreading rumors."

_I bet they did._   "What kind of rumors?" Anna seethed.

Lord Nyberg shook his head.  "Terrible lies Princess.  I will not dare repeat them in detail as they are not decent for me to say.  However, the gist of it is Knudsvig is claiming Queen Elsa is a frigid woman he blames for their childlessness.  He brags that he already sired two sons with his mistress so he must not be at fault in this marriage.  But I and many others in the Northern Isles court know the truth.  He is afraid to be near your sister.  He is a coward who is not even willing to speak to her face to face so he defames her in public to hide his shortcomings."

"Then there isn't a reason for Elsa to stay in this marriage any longer!" Anna exclaimed.  "He has been unfaithful to her and he treats her ill.  It's about time they separated!"

Lord Nyberg eyed her with alarm.  "Princess please.  I understand you are concerned but you must not speak so hastily.  Knudsvig is doing all this precisely to provoke Queen Elsa to file a divorce so he can marry his vulgar mistress. While his father lives, he will never be allowed to pursue that recourse and only Queen Elsa can force them to separate. However, a divorce will not be in her best interests either.  Believe me when I say that Knudsvig will make this ugly for her should it come to that.  He will stop at nothing to make sure she will be blamed for this failure of a marriage.  He is already calling her a witch.  Imagine what else he will say if they must meet in a courtroom to dissolve their marriage.   He will destroy her reputation that she can never hope to marry again."

"But what else should Elsa do? I will not let my sister be abused!"

"I can perhaps be of some assistance, Princess.  We can help each other."

"In what way?" Anna asked.

"Knudsvig will send the Northern Isles to ruin if he takes the throne but your sister, Queen Elsa can save it.  She cannot rule of course, as our law states only the male bloodline of the royal family can inherit the crown.  However, she can be regent on behalf of her son in his minority."

"So she needs to have a son with Knudsvig."  Anna said distastefully as she shuddered at what that meant for Elsa.   "We already spoke of that.  How is she going to be regent if Knudsvig is..."  She stopped as he realized what Lord Nyberg is proposing.  "You do not mean to kill Knudsvig...?"

Lord Nyberg shook his head.  "Not so drastic as that I hope.  He is still a member of the royal family I swore to protect so I will do what I can to spare his life.  However, he can be stripped of power.  If the people of the Northern Isles will not accept Knudsvig as their king, the council of Lords that I belong to can demand for his abdication or our military can restrain him and send him to exile to prevent a possible uprising.  There are many ways we can remove him from influence without resorting to death.  Once he is out of the way, I will personally endorse your sister as regent."

Anna reeled at the implications.  This man was offering her sister the opportunity to rule two kingdoms if she was willing to put up with her abusive husband.  If it were up to Anna, she would just say no to Lord Nyberg and let him deal with his own country's problems.  Then she would punch Knudsvig so hard he can never speak ill of Elsa again or perhaps set Marshmallow on him for a few days until he left Elsa alone.  However, Anna knew her sister would just remind her of the diplomatic consequences of punching it out or sending snow monsters on the rampage so she held her tongue.  Besides, she wasn't exactly sure she can trust Lord Nyberg just yet.  He could be setting Elsa into a trap too.

"I cannot speak for my sister.  She alone can decide on this matter," Anna replied carefully.

"I completely understand.  All I ask is you speak to her of what I proposed and help her consider this carefully.  I am always open to speak to her again at length.  She only needs to send word through Lord Svenson, our ambassador to Arendelle and my own nephew."

Anna nodded.  She remembered Lord Svenson.  He was that young handsome ambassador that had been quite visible at court since Elsa was married.  He was always pleasant in his manner.  Charming, Anna would admit and seemed eager to please.  Many of the Arendellian servants liked him immensely. Even Elsa struck an easy friendship with him.  However, Anna never really hit it off with him despite his being properly engaging.  She reminded him too much of Hans when they first met and somehow that made her wary of him.

"I will speak to her," Anna replied.

"That is all that I can hope for.  You have my thanks.  Please let Queen Elsa know I and the people of the Northern Isles do not take this matter lightly and we offer this as we see her as our best hope against certain ruin.  She will have the gratitude of hundreds of souls if she decides to take up this challenge."

"I will let her know." Anna said evenly though the man's last words unnerved her.  Fortunately, Lord Nyberg expressed his thanks once more and bid her leave with a formal bow.  He departed to join another group of men and immediately blended back into the busy ballroom.  Anna remained where she was and pondered the man's words.

_Hundreds of souls in Elsa's hands! Elsa shouldn't have to bear another burden like this on top of suffering Knudsvig until she gives him a child.  Oh what a mess I got Elsa in.  She shouldn't even be involved with Knudsvig if it weren't for me.   Oh poor Elsa.  How can I help her?_

She looked up just as the crowd parted before her and Hans appeared.  He immediately met her gaze and hurried over to her before he can get sidetracked again.

"You've been a wallflower all night.  Is there something wrong?" he greeted.

Anna considered saying nothing about it for a moment but her expression gave her away.  Hans immediately looked concerned and took her hands in his.  "I saw you speaking to the Northern Isles ambassador.  Something's wrong!  Please tell me."

His concern was so open and the heaviness in her heart was so much that Anna relented to his gaze.  _Surely Hans will understand.  His unhappy childhood was brought about by a horrible marriage too.  Maybe he'll know how to help Elsa or at least give a better advice how to get Elsa out of this situation._

"Can we go somewhere quieter?" she asked. 

Hans nodded and led her to an empty balcony where they wouldn't be overheard.  Once there, Anna told Hans everything Lord Nyberg spoke to her about Elsa's condition.  He said nothing as she ranted about Knudsvig's horrible behavior.  He merely nodded with encouragement as she let off everything in her chest. 

"What should I do, Hans?  Elsa shouldn't have to go through this?  She's already suffered so much.  Isn't there just a way to break her marriage by offering Knudsvig something else?"

Hans pulled his hand from her grasp and looked away.  It took him a moment to respond.  "I think she should consider Lord Nyberg's proposal.  It's her best option."

"Best option?" Anna gasped.  She expected Hans would have thought of some wild idea to get Elsa out but just agreeing to the Northern Isles' ambassador was something she did not expect.  "Let my sister stay with Knudsvig so she can gain another burden of ruling another kingdom?  I've seen how hard she works just ruling Arendelle.  It's no picnic ruling a kingdom.  You expect her to rule another while trapped into an insufferable marriage?  Hans, don't you think Elsa deserves to be happy?"

"Of course I do," he said sullenly.   He walked away towards the edge of the balcony with his back to her.  He stared out into the starry night sky.  "Maybe... this is the way she can be happy.  She doesn't need to put up with Knudsvig forever as Lord Nyberg said."

"But she'll remain married to him," Anna huffed.  "She'll never have love the same as I have with Kristoff."

"It doesn't have to be with someone she's married to," Hans said so softly that Anna almost didn't hear it. 

“What do you mean?” she asked as she approached him but he didn’t turn to meet her.

"I mean..." Hans went on, haltingly as if he was exerting an effort just getting the words out.  "Love appears in so many ways.  You showed me that.  Maybe... she could find love with her own child if she had one.  She already has it with you, your children, your people, friends..."

Anna realized he had a point.  Love comes in so many forms with different people.  She ought to know.  It was their sisterly bond that saved them from each other.  She, from an icy death and Elsa from continued isolation.

_And yet it still feels like I've cheated Elsa out of her chance for a romance of her own._

"So you think Elsa just isn't fated to find her true love in a romantic partner?" Anna asked sullenly.  "I suppose it doesn't mean her life would be less fulfilling if she never found a man to love her the way she deserves."

"Perhaps," the word rolled off Hans uneasily.  His gaze remained on the moonlit sky.

"Colonel Jorgenjorgen?" a man's voice called out.  They both turned to find a liveried servant. He bowed respectfully when he saw Anna.  "Pardon me your highness.  I didn't know you were here. I was looking for the Colonel."

"What is it?" Hans asked.

"A message has arrived for you Sir," replied the servant.  "The man who brought it insisted you must receive it immediately.  A matter of importance, he said, but no reply is required."   He held out a silver tray where a single sealed envelope lay.

Hans took it and thanked the man, effectively dismissing him.  He glanced at the envelope then quickly tucked it safely into his coat pocket.

"Aren't you going to read it?" Anna asked. 

"It's just from Holford, I can read it later.  I think they're about to begin the toast to the New Year.  We should head back."

Anna's interest was definitely intrigued as she recalled Hans' words to Holford to send word to him if Holford had accomplished what Hans set him to do.  This may be Holford's answer.

"The man said it was important," Anna hinted.

"It can wait a few minutes... or a year," he chuckled lightly.  "The countdown is about to begin.  Let's not miss the opportunity to say goodbye to the sorrows of 1812 and look forward to the next year, shall we?"

Hans led her by the arm back into the center of the ballroom where King Frederick stood with one hand on a champagne glass and another on his pocket watch.  He was giving a speech about the end of a trying year and the promise of a better life in 1813. 

A servant passed by bearing drinks.  Hans grabbed two flutes and handed Anna one.  The Danish king asked everyone to raise their glasses and the guests all followed after him. Anna joined in just as her uncle declared 1813 officially started and the orchestra dramatically played a lively tune. 

"Happy New Year," Anna whispered to Hans though she felt little reason to celebrate.  She barely heard Hans greet her back before she was swept up in a wave of greetings from various guests.  It went on for quite some time that she lost track of Hans completely.

The exploding sound of fireworks caught the attention of the guests and drew them to the windows and balconies where they can view the visual spectacle.  Anna followed them and allowed herself to watch the fireworks for several minutes.  The colors here were spectacular but they still pale in comparison to Elsa's iceworks during the holiday season. 

_I miss you Elsa.  I'll be home with you and the twins soon.  Maybe Kristoff is already there just waiting for me.  You just couldn't get a message to tell me the good news yet.  When I come home, I'll help you deal with Knudsvig.  I won't let him hurt you.  I'll find a way to give you your own true love._

She scanned the room as she tried to picture her sister happily celebrating on a night like this in the arm of a loving man still unknown.  However, as she did, her gaze settled on a familiar redhead who stood by an empty window away from the crowd.  He alone among the guests was not enjoying the fireworks.  His head was bent intently over a piece of paper in his hands. 

Anna watched him as a worried frown creased his brows.  A flash from the last of the fireworks momentarily lit the back of his head, making his hair shine like gold for a split second.  When it was gone, his frown disappeared too, replaced by an easy smile: charming, confident and seemingly without a care in the world.  Caroline passed by him and was the first to notice his beaming countenance.  She giggled a Happy New Year greeting at him and he was quick to respond with a gallant kiss on her hand.

Anna felt an unexplainable dread at the pit of her stomach as she watched Hans and Caroline walked away arm-in-arm and melted back onto the crowd of guests decked in Parisian high fashion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Princess Caroline I mentioned here is a real historical princess. She is the eldest and daughter of King Frederick VI of Denmark-Norway. She and her sister Vilhelmine were the only two children of King Frederick who survived into adulthood as none of his sons lived past infancy. Amalienborg Palace was one of the official residences of the Danish royal family during the Napoleonic wars and one used for entertaining guests so it made sense to set this chapter here.


	15. The Target

_January 10, 1813_

_Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark_

 

Anna slowly stepped out of the carriage assisted by a liveried servant.   She thanked the man politely and stared at the second man who greeted her. 

"Any messages?" she asked.

"None, Madame,” replied the butler with a regal bow.  “However, Princess Caroline would like you for you to join her at the tea room in half an hour."

"Of course, please tell her I will be glad to join her."

She proceeded to her assigned apartments and waved away the girl who offered to assist her in undressing.  Once alone in her suite, she tugged off her bonnet, laid it aside, and sighed dejectedly as she sat on the elaborately cushioned ottoman.

It's been her third visit to the French regional war office since they reopened and there was still no news of Kristoff.  She did, however, accounted for 68 Arendellian soldiers in the barracks and the local hospitals, all alive and waiting for the ports to reopen so they can come home.  They were the men that Holford managed to evacuate from Warsaw.   She spent the day just talking to the latest nine soldiers she met at the barracks.  They told stories of narrowly escaping death and capture after months of marching on the retreat.   

The news on everyone’s lips today was that the Russians entered Warsaw just days ago and they were rumored to be moving even further westward.  There was speculation that the Russians will be in Prussia in a month.  The soldiers she spoke to even surmised that Emperor Bonaparte might be captured soon and the French empire was on its way towards total collapse.  As Arendellians allied to the French that would mean they were also on the losing side of this war.  However, Anna was rather surprised that none of the soldiers from her country seemed to think this was a bad thing.  One soldier even put it bluntly:

"Serves him right for forcing Queen Elsa to send us against the Russians.  They never meant us harm but we had to fight them.  Let the Russians come and deal with the French and their arrogant Emperor.  We just want to go home and move on in our lives."

The sentiment reminded her of Kristoff's last letter when he mentioned how the soldiers felt about this war.  It seemed to be a common view among the Arendellians and it was what prompted a lot of them to desert the ranks during the many months in the campaign.  The official tally for Arendellian deserters she got by the end of the day was over a hundred now and 84 were confirmed executed by their own commanding officers.  Anna shuddered to imagine if Kristoff had also been forced to execute his own men and prayed he was never put in such a horrible situation.

_Oh dear Lord, I hope you didn’t put Kristoff through such an ordeal.  Keep him safe and please send him home to me._

She got up and made to her dresser where her bible lay on her side table.  She felt a need for some inspirational words to assuage her troubled mind.  However, she paused when she noticed a piece of paper sat beside the holy book with her name written prominently in the front.    

_Hans!_

She immediately recognized his neat script.  She hadn't been seeing Hans much over the last several days and she hadn't had an opportunity to speak to him in private at length.  Since the start of the new year, Hans had been in the war office for debriefing which took five days of him being confined to the barracks.  When he finally came home to Amalienborg, Uncle Frederick took him hunting for another three days.  She kept missing him whenever he was in Amalienborg or in the war office.   He was always in a meeting with some foreign diplomat or in conversation with a high ranking French officer on the occasions they passed by each other. She had the oddest feeling he was avoiding her.  Anna worried something in Holford's letter on New Year's Eve changed things between them but whatever it was, she could not imagine.

A more disturbing thought that had been bothering Anna was that Hans was again setting his sights into marrying into a throne.  Her cousin Caroline was naive and vivacious as she had been when she was her age.  Caroline was infatuated with Hans since the New Year eve's ball and often expressed a desire to spend more time with their mysterious Colonel guest.  Hans wasn't particularly paying attention to Caroline.  At least, it wasn't that much obvious from Anna's perspective.  He was friendly with the girl but not overly familiar.  However, it still nagged at Anna how he blended easily into the Danish-Norwegian court and was well-liked by the royal family in just mere days.  She worried this was all a prelude to courting her unsuspecting cousin.  Perhaps that was what Caleb was asking him.  Hans was to marry into a throne for whatever political purpose it served Caleb.  What better candidate for a royal bride than the oldest surviving daughter of the King of Denmark-Norway?

Anna took the letter and slowly opened it with high hopes her suspicions were unfounded.  However, his short message told her little reassurance.

 

Dear Anna,

I heard from some sailors that the sea routes are clearing early.  The ports will be opening soon.  I've arranged for a ship for you and the Arendellians to depart on the 14th.  Please make arrangements to get ready.  

Hans

 

_No explanations or even an indication he was going to meet me.  Something is definitely up with Hans._

A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts.  Anna opened it and a servant reminded her of Caroline's invitation for tea.    Anna fixed her bonnet and straightened her dress then followed after the servant.

_I'm going to send out guards and the maids and the stable boys to help me find him.  He can't possibly move in and out of the palace without at least one of the servants noticing.  I'm going to find out what he's up to even if I have to hunt him down and hold him up by the ear and force him to tell me.  He owes me the truth..._

Anna stopped her stream of thought as she entered the tea room.  Hans was there seated in a comfortable couch having a good laugh with Caroline, her four-year-old sister Vilhelmine and their two ladies-in-waiting.

"Anna, I'm so glad you could join us," Caroline greeted enthusiastically as she stood to greet her.  She leaned over as if to kiss Anna's cheek but whispered instead:  "I finally got a moment with Colonel Jorgenbjorgen.  Villy invited him to play with her so my ladies and I joined them.  I asked him to dine with us tonight and he said yes.  I suggested we can have dancing after dinner and the Colonel told me it was a privilege to have me as his first dance!"

"Oh... uhmmm... that's nice," Anna answered hesitantly.  She eyed Hans but he seemed pre-occupied with pretending to drink tea using a tiny doll's china set while Vilhelmine clapped her little hands in appreciation.

"He's been so good to my little sister,” Caroline gushed on.  “I think he would make a great father someday."

"I don't know about that but he's seems good as an older brother," Anna replied begrudgingly.  It was obvious Caroline was already imagining herself married to Hans and having his children and it didn't sit well with Anna. 

Caroline however, didn't get the hint and merely giggled.  "You're absolutely right.  I think Villy would love him as an older brother."

Anna said nothing.  She was fighting an internal battle not to roll her eyes. 

Hans looked up just then and smiled at her before he turned to his smaller companion.  "Can we invite Princess Anna to join for tea?" he asked.

The little princess pouted and shook her head at him.  "We have too many princesses.  We need a prince."

"But you've got me.  I'm already a prince," Hans pleaded. 

"We need one more," the little girl said matter-of-factly.  "So you and he can swordfight while we princesses cheer."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's enthusiasm.  She turned to little Vilhelmine.  "You don't have to be a prince to learn how to swordfight.  A princess can fight too."

"She can?" the girl asked seriously.

"Of course she can," Hans assured her.  He got up from his seat and retrieved two pokers from the fireplace.  He handed one to Anna.  "Come on, Anna.  Let's show off your fencing skills.  Let's see if you learned something."

Anna eagerly took up his challenge.  They went to the center of the room and started play fighting.  Anna fell into the role quite easily and it reminded her of the fun bonding times she and Hans had on the road.  She put his lessons to full use as she lunged and parried against him.

"Is that the best you got, Prinzess?" said Hans in the familiar thick accent she immediately recognized as the one her own father used for Lord Maledorn.

"I haven't even started!" Anna gamely replied as she lunged dramatically once more. 

They kept at it for a good ten minutes that Anna was soon huffing and puffing at the strenuous exercise. However, it got her blood pumping in a way that she hadn’t felt in a long time.  It was great fun and their audience seemed to be enjoying it just as they were.  Caroline took on cheering for Hans while Vilhelmine became Anna's supporter.

"Touche!" Anna finally shouted as she lightly hit Hans on the chest.  He made an overly dramatic expression of surprise before he proceeded to pretend to die.  It earned him a lot of laughs from Vilhelmine and their ladies.

"Ahem! Pardon me your highnesses," an older voice cut through their laughter.  They all turned to the door to see an elderly matron with a stern countenance about her that made both Anna and Hans stand at attention.  Anna was reminded of her strict governess Frau Benedicta who used to make her behave with one sharp look when she was a child. 

"King Frederick would like to see his daughters," announced the matron.

"Must we go now Leontina?" Caroline complained.  "We were having so much fun."

"He bids you to come immediately," the woman insisted.  Caroline made a sour face but followed the matron with her sister and their ladies.  The stern Leontina glanced back at Hans and Anna noticed how the woman seemed to eye him with obvious displeasure before she swept away rather dramatically with her nose in the air.

“She’s rather high and mighty,” Hans joked once they were out of earshot but Anna decided not to comment back.  Instead she turned to Hans.

"So?" she asked.

"So... what? he replied innocently as he dabbed his sweat stained face with a handkerchief.

"So what?" Anna arched her eyebrow and decided to go straight to the point.  "You disappeared on me for days!  What's going on?"

"I've been busy," he shrugged.

"Busy with what?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

He finger combed his hair with one move of his hand to get it back into place then proceeded to straighten out invisible wrinkles on his coat while he casually answered: "Debriefing, gathering news about the ports and arranging for transport for the Arendellians."

"Uh-huh," she said doubtfully _.  Okay so he was going to be evasive.  I'm not going to let him._   "Were you planning on talking to me or are you just going to meet on the boat on the way home?"

Hans didn’t even look at her but continued to fuss with his coat. "Okay, I'm sorry if I haven't been around lately.  Look, I got the transport prepared for you and all the Arendellians.  If you want we can talk about the supplies for the journey—"

"Whoah! Whoah! Wait a second!" Anna interrupted.  "What do you mean ME and the Arendellians?  Don't you mean US?"

Hans said nothing and merely looked away.

"Hans, you are going home with me to Arendelle?"

"It's not my home," he said quietly.

"It doesn't have to be.  Elsa invited you.  She told me to let you escort me home.  I thought we talked about this."

"I'm sure the other Arendellian officers are more than capable of escorting you."

"But I want you to escort me!" Anna exclaimed as she moved in front of him to force him to look at her.  "Hans, tell me right now what's going on.  You ignore me for days, now you're letting me go home without you?"

He bit his lip for a moment and refused to meet her gaze.  "Look, my duty compels me to stay..." 

"That's a lie!" she declared.  "Or at least that's not the whole truth.  It's Caleb, isn't it?  Your brother is forcing you to stay here in exchange for your freedom.  He gave you a pardon but he can take it away just as easily if you don't do his bidding.  That's what Holford told you."

Panic formed into Hans' features.  He rushed to the door, peered at the corridor before fully closing it.  "Where did you hear that?" he whispered when he turned back to her.

"I overheard you and Holford talking at the hospital on the day he arrived."

"How much did you hear?" he asked fearfully.

"Enough to know Caleb is asking you to do something you don't want to do but you'll consider it if Holford erases a file for you.  You received a letter from Holford during the ball.  I figured he came through with the favor you asked him so now you're doing what Caleb wants.  I'm not stupid Hans! I can put it all together even if I don't have all the details."

"Please keep your voice down,” he said worriedly.  “What have you put together?"

Anna realized it would be prudent to follow his advice.   She may not like what he was doing but she wasn’t going to get him in trouble with her uncle just yet.  She whispered back: "You're trying to marry Caroline."

Hans silently stared at her for several seconds before he blinked with confusion.  "What?" he mouthed.

"You heard me!" Anna cried indignantly before she remembered to lower her tones.  "It's obvious why you want to stay here so you can court her, marry her then gain power when she becomes queen after her father.  A move that sounds quite familiar, isn't it?" She paused as a sickening new thought entered her head.  "Hans… just tell me honestly.  Did Caleb ask you to kill Uncle Frederick so you can get to your goal faster?"

"What? NO!" he exclaimed so violently that he seemed to forget they were supposed to be whispering.  He immediately recovered and lowered his voice when he spoke again:  "Anna, he's a good man.  I would never do that to him!"

"But did your brother order you to?"

He shook his head.  "Caleb didn't ask to murder anyone.  That's not his way."

Anna felt a little relieved with that but the prospect of her cousin being seduced for power still left her feeling ill.  "So it's just a marriage then?  Look Hans, I told you before you may think this is just a game, but people's feelings can get hurt.  I'm not going to let you hurt Caroline like she's some target you need to hit."

"I wasn't going to," he said softly.  He put a hand on his forehead and paced apprehensively.  “What you must think of me?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Hans.  Just please, whatever it is, tell me the truth.”

“Okay,” he said as he stopped pacing and he motioned for her to sit down.  She followed him as she sensed this was something she needed to hear seated comfortably at least.  He sat opposite her but remained within whispering distance.

“I’m not going to Arendelle with you,” he admitted.   “But I’m not doing that because Caleb ordered me to.  I'm doing it because I'm defying him."

"Defying him? What do you mean?"

"Caleb did order me to seek a target, as you put it.  But it isn't Caroline."  He paused to stare at her intently and Anna could see the desperation in his eyes.  "It's Elsa."

"Elsa?" Anna muttered as her stomach plummeted and her mouth suddenly felt dry.  "What exactly does Caleb want you to do with my sister?"

He wrung his hands comfortably and she could tell this was something unpleasant for him.  He spoke haltingly, like he was struggling.  "Caleb wants me… to get close enough to be part of her court…”

“That’s not so bad, is it?  I mean you can be the Southern Isles ambassador to Arendelle…” She faltered as Hans shook her head.

“Caleb will probably set me up to be that ambassador for Arendelle, but he wants me to be more than that to her.   He wants me to get closer to her… so I can influence her, be her confidant… and…” He paused and swallowed hard.   “Get into her bed."

Anna felt sick at the blunt way he put it but she should have expected that.  _A marriage for power had always been in his plan.  Why should it change now?  But something here didn't make sense._

"How can you marry Elsa when she's already married?” She let out a gasp as a grim idea came to her.  “You're not... planning an accident for Knudsvig, are you?"

He shook his head.  "Killing Knudsvig is out of the question.  He's supposed to be kept alive.” He stopped again and gave a defeated huff.    “And I never said anything about a marriage."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my guest reviewers mentioned how this feels similar to Catherine the Great of Russia and you are quite right, Elsa's predicament was inspired by Empress Catherine's real life situation. For those not familiar with the story of Catherine the Great, she was a German princess named Sofia who ended up becoming queen regent on her son's behalf while her incompetent husband, the heir to the Russian throne was pushed to the side. She effectively became ruler of all Russia. She also has a mention in this story which I will elaborate more on the next chapter. I think most of you can take a guess where Hans is going with this one and he is about to reveal to Anna the real extent of the Westergaard political tactics.


	16. The House of Westergaard

_No marriage?  It just didn’t make any sense.  How can Hans rule Arendelle when he’s not married to the Queen?_ Anna’s thoughts reeled with confusion.  "Hans, I don't understand..."

Hans stood up and paced the room again.  "You told me about Elsa's situation with the future of Northern Isles.  Well, my brothers are also aware that Elsa can become its next queen, and possibly rule as its regent if she has a son who could inherit both Arendelle and the Northern Isles.  Arendelle itself is only a small country that has never been an important player politically or economically, but the Northern Isles is different.”  

Anna nodded.    She understood the significance of the Northern Isles when Elsa married Knudsvig.  “Elsa told me the Northern Isles has a formidable navy, a strategic port and natural resources that can be the envy of any country in Scandinavia.”

“She’s quite right,” Hans agreed.    “The Northern Isles itself is already a prize but by joining with Arendelle it will become the solid trade gateway of the north, an economic and political power in the region.  And it can be united under the rule of one precious child." 

He stopped pacing and stared back at her.  "There lies the opportunity.  My opportunity... to sire that child and pass him off as Knudsvig's."

Anna's mouth fell open with the shock of that revelation.  _Hans was being used as a... Oh heavens! I can't even say it... like a stud horse to a mare for a purpose!  It was simply degrading!_

"I'm not the first Westergaard forced to do this," he continued.  "Haven't you realized it by now given our history? The Westergaards marry into a throne if they could.  If not, they sire children who will inherit one.  That's how we keep alliances with nations for generations."

Anna couldn’t imagine that this extended even beyond Hans.  "You mean there are others among your brothers who have done this?"

"You have no idea," he chuckled mirthlessly.  He sat down to be at level with her.  "Promise me, you'll tell no one on what I'll tell you.  My brothers' lives and their children can be put in danger if anyone knew."

"I promise," Anna solemnly nodded. 

"Almost every royal family in Europe is littered by secret Westergaard bastards.  Case in point: Czar Alexander of Russia.  He's half Westergaard and he knows it.  His grandfather is also a Westergaard."

"Czar Alexander? But his grandmother was Empress Ekaterina the Great, the one who united Russia." Anna had read about famous Russian empress and admired her strength for ruling alone without a husband by her side.  It was one of the history lessons that Anna had been interested in before.

"A formidable woman like your sister," Hans agreed.  "But also a lonely, dissatisfied wife.  She's had several lovers in her lifetime and one of them was my great uncle, who as a typical Westergaard, charmed his way into her bedchamber and gave her the son she needed to become regent of Russia.  Of course, the son Peter proved to be just as inept as a lover with his own wife.  So my second brother Einar came to the Russian court and cheered up his poor missis.  Nine months later the future Czar Alexander was born.  He secretly grew up under the tutelage and influence of Einar.  If you ever wondered why Caleb took away my family name before he sent me off to this war, this was one of the reasons.  He couldn't risk the Russians finding out a Westergaard fought against them and even worse, that soldier was the blood uncle of their own king."

"But the Southern Isles openly declared for Emperor Bonaparte against Russia," Anna pointed.

"Well that couldn't be helped,” Hans said with a roll of his eyes.  “Caleb plays it safe and had to declare for Napoleon because he was the dominating ruler but that didn't mean he wasn't also supporting the Russians on the side.  Either way, Caleb has an ace because while the Czar is his nephew he also has my other brother Jurgen deep into the French Emperor's household should Napoleon emerge as the victor of this conflict."

Anna caught the hint.  "How deep into Emperor Bonaparte's household exactly?" she asked.

Hans shrugged.  "Let's just say that Napoleon's angelic son and heir doesn't have a drop of Corsican blood in his veins."

"My goodness!" Anna muttered.  "The Russian Czar and the next ruler of France..."

"Both my brothers' children.  Of course little Napoleon Francois may not get to claim that empire after this fiasco of a war.  I'm not too worried about Jurgen.  He's probably set his sights on some Austrian princess by now."

Anna shuddered. The way Hans told it, the behavior of his brothers held no shock value for him. She couldn't imagine how he could have grown up knowing he would be used this way to further his family's political influence.  "You sound as if this was a normal thing?"

"It is in my family," Hans sullenly replied.  “My brothers and I were raised to exploit the vulnerability of women in unhappy marriages.  Evidently, a lot of them are married to powerful men who haven't the time to spare for their own families.  The society we live in cares little for the personal happiness of royal wives and their children.  Until a child grows to become someone imported, most are shunted to the side by their royal fathers.  So if a neglected child sees a man who pays attention to him and treats his mother better than his father, who do you think that child will turn to for advice once he grows to adulthood and becomes king?"

Anna couldn't believe the audacity of Hans' family.  This was no ordinary scheme to take a throne but a continuous vie for power through the influence of a parent with his own child.

"So Elsa was intended for you to exploit," Anna said bitterly. "To be played for her position and for her future son."

"Caleb didn't bother with her before when Arendelle was the only one at stake.  It was too insignificant a country in the larger scale of things.  However, now that the Northern Isles can also be hers, it is essential for her womb, as Holford puts it, to carry a Westergaard future king."

"Elsa is more than just a 'womb!'" Anna protested indignantly.  She resented that her sister was being viewed as an object, just a means to an end.

Hans hung his head and sadly shook it.  "I don't see her that way, not anymore.  Not after what you've shown me."

"What do you mean?" Anna demanded.

"My brothers knew I wanted Arendelle since I was a boy.  It must seem like the perfect plan to them when they found out we've reconnected and became friends.  Caleb has spies in Arendelle and I figured one of them intercepted your letter to Elsa about me.  I don't know why Elsa invited me to Arendelle.  The only explanation I can think of is that my brothers have already set her to think well of me.  All I had to do is come with you and charm her."

He paused to meet her eyes though he seemed to make an effort to do so. "I'm not going to lie.  I've considered doing it.  My brothers are practically handing Arendelle to me and they're giving me a second even more prosperous country as a bonus.  Who was I to say no?  So I kept my distance from you since New Year.  I didn't want you near me to remind me of what you've made me see."

"And what exactly is that?" Anna asked.  She suddenly felt like she was looking at a lost little boy.  Hans looked so vulnerable when he spoke again. 

"The possibility of another kind of life.  One where I don't need to sell my body for power, where I don't need to deceive a woman that had treated me with mercy and gave me a second chance to live even when I don't deserve it.  A life where maybe... just maybe… I can find a love of my own… like you have."

Anna didn't know what to say to that.  She can never imagine she could inspire Hans to see that possibility. She reached out and held his hand. "Hans, you can have that life."

She could see his eyelids glisten with unshed tears and he fought to blink them away. "I know, and I will pursue it. That's why I can't come with you.  I’m not going to let Caleb use me as his instrument anymore.  Elsa doesn't deserve to be played. I can't... I won't do that.   I owe my life to her.  I owe it to your father who loved me in his own way.  And I owe it to you for the kindness you've shown me."

"What will you do then?" Anna asked.  Though she was touched by his declaration, she couldn't help but think of Caroline and the possibility that Hans was just abandoning one potential queen to marry another.

Hans shrugged.  "Go back to the army.  It won't be long anyway before Caleb finds out I disobeyed him and rescinds my pardon.  I might as well be where I should be serving my sentence." He reached into his coat pocket and handed her a folded piece of paper.  "My old commander Marshal Bernadotte, now the Crown Prince of Sweden has invited me to join his regiment in his adopted country.  I leave the same afternoon as you do but on a different ship."

Anna read the page he gave her.  It was an official transfer for Hans to the regiment stationed in Sweden.  The details of the ship that will take him there was just as what he said.

"You're not staying here?" she asked.

"There's no reason for me to..." He stopped abruptly and eyed her knowingly.  "You thought I was trying to marry Caroline?"

Anna nodded hesitantly. "It... it crossed my mind."

He gave a defeated sigh.  "Anna, you don't have to worry about Caroline.  I have no romantic designs on her.  She's just a child."

"So was I when I met you," Anna argued.  "And I was even younger than she is now."

He clasped her hand firmly.  "Anna, I swear to you, I have no desire to have any relationship with Caroline other than be her friend.   King Frederick may like me well enough but he knows who I really am and he would never let me marry her even if I wanted to.  I just spent three days hunting with him and during that time he made it quite clear for me to stay away from her which I promised I will.  He knows I'm leaving."

Anna was a bit relieved but was not entirely convinced.  "What if Caleb asks you to go after her instead?"

"He'll never do that," Hans said without missing a beat.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she can never inherit her father's crown."

Anna raised an eyebrow in confusion.  "What? But she's his eldest daughter.  Uncle Frederick doesn't have living sons."

"Technically that's not accurate.  He does have a son through his mistress.”

Anna gasped at this revelation. 

Hans just gave a dismissive wave.   “Look that's beside the point.  His bastard is insignificant but Caroline is one as well.  She can never be queen because the Danish Salic Law doesn't allow women to rule unlike the laws of Arendelle.  If Uncle Frederick dies without a legitimate son, the crown passes to his cousin.   Caleb knows that well so Caroline’s place in the succession is too trivial for my brother to even bother.  And then there's the second reason Caleb won't send me or any of my brothers to go after Caroline."

"And what's that?"

Hans smiled uncomfortably.  "Caleb draws the line on pairing us with really close relations like siblings or our immediate offspring.  Caroline is well... my niece."

Anna was confused.  "I thought you said she was your cousin?"

Hans raised an eyebrow and Anna got what he was hinting.  "Oh heavens no! She can't also be..."

"Brother number eight, Franz is her real father.  He was a failure because he wasn't able to produce sons so the kingdom of Denmark-Norway is still relatively without a secret Westergaard future king.  Caroline doesn’t know and it’s best that it stayed that way."

Anna felt like she was gut punched.  No royal family seemed to be safe from the Westergaards.  It got her suddenly worried of her own mother and how she must have felt at the beginning of her marriage.  "Hans, Elsa and I... we're not also Westergaards, are we?"

Hans shook his head.  "No.  Thank goodness.  As I said, Arendelle is a relatively small country, not significant enough to risk the scandal of a clandestine Westergaard secret child when a legal marriage will do.  That's why Caleb agreed to send me to Elsa's coronation in the first place to marry her.  But I failed doing that so I suppose this is his punishment for me."

Anna clutched at his hand tighter.  "So you're going back to the army. You've heard what the soldiers in the war office are saying. War can break out again any moment.  Hans, you can't go back into battle.  You can be killed!"

"Maybe," he said.  He signed with resignation.  "But that's what a common soldier's life is and it's the one I'd rather have.   At least, this way, I'll be free.  Caleb may offer me a life of prosperity and power but if I do his bidding to father Elsa's child, I will forever be under Caleb’s control or risk the exposure of my child.  I won't do that."

"Then don't," Anna said firmly as a plan formed into her head.  _Hans doesn't have to go back to his old life as a soldier.  He can make a new home with me and Elsa where he can be safe.  And maybe he’s just the right person I need to help Elsa out of the pickle she’s in.   He’s so brilliant, he’s bound to think of ways to solve Elsa’s problem._  "You don't have to risk your life again in battle to be free of your brother.  Come home to Arendelle with me.  We'll tell Elsa what you told me and she'll understand.  Caleb won't know you disobeyed him."

Hans gave her a surprised look.  "You trust me enough that I'm not going to go after your sister after what I told you?"

"You told me, that's all I need, Hans.  I trust you," she emphasized. 

Hans no longer blinked away his tears.  "And I promise you, I will always try to live up to that trust.  Thank you."  He bit his lip uncomfortably and they seemed to have fallen into an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Hans spoke again, hesitantly:  “Anna, there’s something you should—”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a knock at the door.   A servant opened it and bowed before them.  “Colonel Jorgenbjorgen?”

Hans stood up.  “What is it?”

“A messenger arrived from the war office, sir.”  He held out a tray with a letter.  “He said you are to report immediately to the officers’ barracks tonight.”

“Tonight?  But it’s almost dinner time.  Can it wait until morning?” Anna protested. 

Hans, however, only tore open the message and read through it.  He looked to Anna and gave her an apologetic look before he turned to the servant.  “Tell the messenger I’ll be out in fifteen minutes.  I just need to pick up a few things.”

The servant bowed and showed himself out.

“Hans, what’s wrong?” Anna asked.  His serious demeanor could only mean something bad and she feared the worst.

“General Yorck, one of the Prussian commanders signed an armistice with the Russian army two days before the New Year but the word got out only now.  It’s a sign the Prussians are now turning against France.”  He held out the letter.    “This order came from Marshal Ney himself.  He’s at the war office right now and he’s ordering the officers back to the barracks to reassure our loyalty.”

Anna had met Marshal Ney before and knew he was one of Emperor Bonaparte’s closest commanders.  She didn’t exactly understand what Hans meant by reassuring their loyalty but it must be serious if one of the highest ranking officers were sending out urgent messages for them to come.  “Will… will you be okay?”

He smiled reassuringly at her.    “It’s nothing, just a random check in.  Ney is getting a little skittish over this armistice and wants to see his officers in person.  He just wants to make sure we’re not planning a coup against the Emperor.    I have to go but I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise and we can talk more then.”

“If you say so,” Anna said though she still felt uncertain.  “Just be careful alright.”  She gave him a brief hug then let him go.   

She watched him disappear into the corridor towards his quarters and she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something about tomorrow will not go as smoothly as he said.  She went back into the tea room and sat down, reeling at the revelations that Hans told her tonight.  It was quite a lot to take in.

“Anna?” an apprehensive voice came from behind her and she turned to see Caroline had returned.  She glanced at the room in confusion.  “Where’s Colonel Jorgenbjorgen?”

“He was recalled back to the barracks tonight,” Anna replied.  “He had to leave immediately.”

Disappointment immediately showed on the younger girl’s face.  “So he’s not coming to dinner?”

Anna suddenly pitied her poor cousin.  “I’m afraid not.  He just left to pack a few things.  He’s going straight away to the war office.”  Anna was about to reassure her Hans will be back tomorrow when she remembered who exactly Caroline was to Hans and why she ought not to encourage the poor girl any further.

“He’s not coming back, is he?” the girl was almost close to tears.  “Papa made him leave!”

“Made him leave?” Anna was confused.  “No, Caroline, he was recalled by his superiors.”

But the girl shook her head.  “Because Papa asked them to!  He doesn’t want me near the Colonel and he just told me to stay away from him. That’s why he had Leontina call me and Villy.”

Anna had a feeling Caroline may be right, but she couldn’t blame Uncle Frederick for keeping her cousin away from Hans, even if her uncle didn’t know that Caroline wasn’t really his daughter.  Hans’ previous reputation was enough to send any parent to take precautions against a possible unwanted suitor like him.  

“I won’t let Papa dictate to me what he wants!” Caroline exclaimed.

“Look, Caroline,” Anna said gently.   “Maybe he has a point…”

However, her cousin didn’t seem to hear her.  “He may still be in his room.   I can still catch him and tell him he can write to me if he wants.”

“Caroline, I don’t think that’s a good idea…”  Anna never got to finish her sentence for her cousin had taken off running towards Hans’ assigned apartment.  She rolled her eyes and followed after the love sick girl.

Anna caught up to her by the time they reached the guest wing.  Caroline stood outside of Hans’ room speaking to a manservant.  He was explaining that Hans had already left with just a small bag.  The younger princess’ shoulders slumped as she dismissed the servant.

“Papa said he was no good for me,” Caroline said dejectedly.  “He said Colonel Jorgenbjorgen is already engaged to someone else, but I know he was lying.  Papa twitches his nose when he’s lying and he did it three times when I demanded to know why I shouldn’t’ be friends with the Colonel.”

Anna had to give her uncle credit for being creative but he didn’t have to be that creative to get Caroline to stay away from Hans.  She contemplated just telling Caroline the truth, well at least the partial truth where she was once engaged to Hans and how that had ended.

“Maybe I can prove Papa’s lying.  If Colonel Jorgenbjorgen is really engaged, he should have some token in his room from his beloved.  If I don’t find anything then maybe he’s free.” Caroline continued.  Before Anna could even react, Caroline had entered Hans’ room and began riffling through his drawers. 

Anna could only shake her head at the girl’s audacity and lack of common sense.  Not finding anything from a fiancé doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a fiancé.  “Caroline, this is ridiculous, we shouldn’t even be here!  Come on let’s go, we can talk about this outside.”

However, the girl still wasn’t listening.  “I found a letter!” she shouted triumphantly as she pulled a piece of paper from one of the drawers.

“Caroline, this isn’t appropriate.  You shouldn’t be reading that.”  Anna complained but the girl didn’t heed her and still read the letter.

“I don’t get it,” the younger princess said, her nose wrinkling with confusion.

“Of course you don’t, it’s not meant for you!” Anna scolded.  “Now just put it back where you got it.”

But the girl shook her head.  “No, I mean it has your name.”  She handed the letter to Anna.

“What do you mean it has my name?”  Anna asked.  She knew she should return the letter but her curiosity could no longer be satisfied.  She opened the piece of paper and saw it was a short note with just three lines that gave her an instant chill as she read them:

 

A Westergaard through and through.  Bravo Hans!

Lieutenant Kristoff Bjorgman.

 -  Holford

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> : I threw in a lot of historical characters in this chapter so I should give them some proper context. I mentioned in the previous chapter about Catherine the Great and the way she came to power through her son. Throughout her life there have been rumors that her son was not really fathered by her husband because she did have quite a number of lovers. I conceived the idea that one of them was actually a Westergard and went even further to imagine that another Westergaard also ended up fathering her grandchild. As for Napoleon’s son Napoleon Francois, there is no evidence to support that he had another father other than Napoleon. However, Napoloeon’s marriage to Marie Louise of Austria was also a typical political union. In fact she married him initially by proxy. As Napoleon was away from his wife for quite some time and given their age gap (he was 41, she was 19), it’s easy to imagine she’s also trapped in a loveless marriage. Of course, the one detail that cemented the idea to me that Napoleon’s son could be a Westergard is hair color. Try Googling a picture of Napoleon’s son and you’ll see he’s a redhead when the Corsica-born Napoleon is dark haired while Marie Louise is a brunette.
> 
> Princess Caroline of Denmark-Norway’s parentage is also a product of my own imagination as there was no evidence that she was sired by anyone but King Frederick. However, what Hans mentioned about Danish Salic Law is accurate. Caroline never inherited the crown because she was a woman. Since she and her sister were also both childless, the crown of Denmark passed on to their father’s next male relation.
> 
> The War of 6th Coalition began with the Convention of Taurogen on December 30, 1812 when Prussian General Ludvig Yorck von Wartenburg decided to sign an armistice with the Russian army, which eventually led Prussia to go against France. I tried to imagine how the now paranoid French army would have reacted to such news. Certainly the French Marshals (these are the highest ranking officers in the French army) would want to recall their subordinates as soon as possible to ensure they are not also switching sides. Marshal Michel Ney that I mentioned is one of Napoleon’s closest commanders and was with him up to the decisive battle of Waterloo in 1815. Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, on the other hand, was also one of Napoleon’s top generals who led quite a different path from Ney. He was elected as crown prince of Sweden when the Swedish line was dying out. He eventually betrayed Napoleon and led Sweden to join the War of the 6th Coalition. He later became King of Sweden and Norway (even if he’s French) and established the Bernadotte dynasty. His descendants are still the ruling monarchs of Sweden up to this day.
> 
> This is one of those revelatory chapters in this story as I’ve managed to explain most of the mysteries I’ve left hanging, but I still have a few more to go. Hope you all enjoy it. I appreciate all your reviews and I’m glad I am prompting you to think of the plots I have in store. What do you think of this latest mystery I’ve dropped?


	17. A Single Name

_January 11, 1813_

_Copenhagen, Denmark_

 

The Copenhagen war office was not yet open when Anna came knocking.   The man that opened the door for her looked like he was about to grumble at being disturbed so early but immediately refrained from doing so when he saw her.  She recognized him as that helpful fatherly Danish clerk that she had spoken to several times before when she had been here over the past several days.  He was the one that had been kind enough to pull up records of any Arendellian soldiers that reported to this office and handed her information. 

"Your highness! We weren't expecting you so early," he greeted politely.

"Good morning, Mr. Einsborg, a pleasure to see you," she replied.  "I would like to see Colonel Jorgenbjorgen please.  He was recalled last night to the barracks."

The short burly man smiled pleasantly as he pushed the rim of his sliding glasses up his nose. "Ahhh one of the officers.  We have a lot of them coming in last night.  They've been gathered in a meeting with Marshal Ney until the wee hours of the morning to swear allegiance to the Emperor.  They're probably still abed this early hour.  Is it as a matter of importance?"

"Yes, I need to speak to him immediately," Anna replied.

"Please do come into the parlor of my office.  I'll see what I can do to send for him.  Would you like to have some coffee while you wait?"

Anna nodded gratefully.  "Coffee would be lovely."

She followed after Mr. Einsborg who chatted animatedly about the number of officers that arrived last night until he had her seated comfortably in front of the fire of the pleasant little office.

_So Hans didn't lie about that at least.  There was a real summon from the war office for him to report to the barracks_ , Anna thought when she was finally alone with a cup of hot brew that Mr. Einsborg’s young assistant had brought it.  However, it still did little to reassure her nerves. 

Anna evaded Caroline's question on the letter she found by giving her cousin some made up story that Hans was probably playing Secret Santa with his brother and correctly guessed Kristoff as his mystery benefactor.  It didn't make much sense even to Anna but Caroline bought it and was convinced to leave the note where she found it.  Anna then feigned sickness to avoid coming to dinner (It wasn't much of a lie, she was sick with worry).  Once free of prying eyes, she returned to Hans' room and stole back the note.  She then sent a message through one of the grooms to the war office to ask Hans to return.   However, the servant returned with news that all the officers were in a closed door meeting with Marshal Ney and were not to be disturbed until tomorrow.  Anna had no choice but to wait.  She spent a sleepless night re-reading the note several times until the words seared into her mind. 

_"Send me word with a single name.   You'll know the name, once you've read the document.   If you send me the right name, I'll know you've done what I ask."  Those were Hans' own words about the document he asked Holford to purge.  But why would that name be Kristoff's?   If Hans had known something about Kristoff he would have told me, wouldn't he?    This is all a misunderstanding.  I will not jump to conclusions.  When I speak to Hans, he will explain everything that will make sense and all will be alright again.  I just know it._

These were the words that she kept saying to herself over and over the whole night.  She whispered them again to herself while she sipped her coffee alone.   Yet somehow the note that weighed heavily in her pocket kept nagging at her, giving her a nasty feeling of doubt.

She shook her head to keep the bad thoughts away and resolved to find other things to distract her mind.  The office door had been left slightly open when Mr. Einsborg and his assistant left and she decided to watch as the war office come alive with the early bustle of foot traffic.  Soldiers and clerks passed by, as they came in and out of the front doors to go about their usual business.  Most of them paused to politely tip their hats whenever they noticed her.  However, none of them was Hans or Mr. Einsborg.

After several uneventful minutes, she grew impatient of waiting.  She decided to ask the next man who would stop by to help follow-up on Hans.  To her fortune, the next person that happened to pass was a young freckle-faced lad that she recognized instantly. 

"Tommy? Tommy Thomsen!” she called out. 

"Princess Anna?" the young teenage soldier replied enthusiastically before he bowed politely at her.

“It's good to see you again," she called out. 

Thomas Thomsen or “Little Tommy” as everyone back home used to call him, was one of the young Arendellian soldiers she met the first time she came to the Copenhagen war office.   She had first encountered Little Tommy when he was among the children who sang at her first surprise birthday party when Elsa had her infamous cold.  He had a growth spurt last year so he now towered over her.  The now six-foot-two sixteen-year-old lad was among youngest boys conscripted to the army. She had been so glad to see him alive and well with all his senses and limbs still intact—a rare thing among the soldiers she had met over the last several months.

The young man bowed again before her.  "I was going to write you a letter and I was going to ask Mr. Einsborg to send it but I suppose you've saved me the trouble.  I have news," he said excitedly.

"News? About what?" Anna asked.

"Well it's not exactly news in a sense..." he suddenly demurred.  "But when you asked us if we can keep an eye out for anyone who can help out with getting news of Prince Kristoff, the Arendellians and I have asked around."

"Have you found someone?" Anna asked.

"I think I might have.   Last night when Marshal Ney came to see his officers, there was a man who came with him who can speak our language.  He's one of the translator scribes, one of the men who had to interpret for us who don't know French when one of the high ranking commanders wanted to speak to us directly.  I remember this one because he used to come around our camps a lot and he probably moves around other regiments with Arendellians.  He makes a lot of notes and translates then in French for the official reports.   He's likely to have encountered Prince Kristoff."

Anna leapt to her feet.  This was probably one of the best leads she can had found who might know of Kristoff directly.  "Where can I find him? Is he here?"

"One of the clerks said he reports to the office early.  That’s why I decided to come by to find him today." He paused as middle-aged gentleman bearing a large bag just came through the front doors.  "What luck!  There he is!"

Anna did not hesitate and followed Tommy as they raced to meet with the man. 

"Captain Bertole!" Tommy called out. 

The man paused from his easy stride and immediately noticed Anna. 

"Can I help you Madame?" Captain Bertole politely asked with a respectful bow.

"I beg pardon Sir," Tommy saluted.  "But this is Princess Anna of Arendelle, sister to Queen Elsa.  She has some questions about her husband..."

Anna no longer heard the end of what Tommy said for she was distracted by the Captain's sudden reaction.  His face appeared to have gone visibly pale.

"Captain Bertole, can you help us? Perhaps you've met with our prince, Lt. Kristoff Bjorgman of the 26th Infantry?" Tommy went on.

The French interpreter did not speak for a moment but merely stared at her and it made Anna apprehensive she could not speak as well.

"Captain Bertole?" Tommy repeated.

"You have heard… no news of him before, your highness?" the Captain finally asked.

Anna could only shake her head and it was Tommy who spoke for her.  "We've asked the administrative office for her and the other Arendellians and I have checked the tally lists daily.  There's been no news.  We're hoping you might know something, sir."

"I think you need to come into my office," the man somberly replied.

Anna knew she should wait for Hans but this was far more important.  She and Tommy followed the man at the end of the long corridor to a small office littered with boxes of files.  He bade her sit at the single guest chair beside the messy desk full of ledgers and papers.  Tommy remained standing beside her while the Captain surprisingly did not sit behind his desk.  He softly closed the door behind him but stood pacing rather apprehensively for a moment before he spoke.

"Princess Anna..." he began haltingly with such a grave expression that she immediately knew something was very wrong.

"You have news of my husband, Lt. Kristoff Bjorgman?" Anna asked shakily.

He swallowed hard before answering.  "Ma'am I'm really very sorry to inform you.  On the 13th of October, Lt. Bjorgman led four other men, all Arendellians and left their regiment’s camp in Moscow without permission."

"I don't understand," Anna said, confused.  "They left? Where did they go?"

The man heaved a sigh and pulled uncomfortably at his collar.  "It pains me to inform you Madame, but they... the men... they deserted the ranks."

"Deserted?" Fear gripped Anna's heart.  She knew what that meant.  It meant Kristoff and those men were now outlaws and could be hunted down by their own commanding officers.  But perhaps there was a chance they escaped and they were on their way home. 

_That was it.  Kristoff is smart.  He would lead those men home.  In Arendelle, Elsa can grant them immunity and a pardon.  Perhaps he was already there. My big mountainman is probably busy playing with the twins right now, just laying low.   Elsa couldn't tell me of course via letters in case whoever was watching them got wind of it. Elsa would protect Kristoff, I'm sure of it.  No one need ever know they deserted._

"I'm sorry to hear that," Anna said carefully.  "So they just disappeared?"

The man shook his head.  "No your highness... I'm afraid they were captured by a group of cavalry officers close to the Emperor."

_No!_

"I'm really sorry to be the one to say it but... they were court martialed on field... and executed the following day."

_No! NO! NOOO!_

Her world was spinning and it wouldn't stop.   She wanted to believe she misheard, that he said something else. 

_He is missing. Just missing! This can't be happening!  It's not true! It's not true! Kristoff is not dead! My Kristoff isn't dead!  He can't be!  We have two children! He needs to come home to them! To me!_

The man was saying something but Anna could not hear him over the rage of confusion rising from the pit of her stomach and spreading like fire all over her. She didn't even know she was screaming at Captain Bertole.

"YOU’RE LYING! HE’S NOT DEAD! HE’S NOT! He's everything that's good and honorable and true! He's not dead!  YOU MADE A MISTAKE!"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." muttered the man.

"HE CAN’T BE DEAD!  WHO SAYS HE WAS? THEY’RE LYING!  THEY LIED!”

"I'm sorry Madame, I'm really sorry," he rambled frantically.  "It's the truth.  I don't know why you haven't heard it before.  I translated the original court martial proceedings.  I filed the report.  It should have been available in all the administrative offices." 

He moved to one of the boxes and pulled out a large bound ledger and opened it in front of her. 

"Here are the original testimonies... I had to translate the confessions from Arendellian..."

With trembling fingers, Anna thumbed at the pages.  There it was in Kristoff's familiar handwriting: his signed confession of deserting his post.  Her sight blurred with tears as she caught the words he wrote to explain his actions:

 

I just wanted to come home to my family.

 

Anna collapsed to the floor, the ledger still in her grasp.  She felt Captain Bertole and Tommy reach out to her but she forcefully pushed them away.

"They murdered my Kristoff!” she muttered under her breath.   “What monster would do this?  He just wants to come home to me!"

"Madame please..." the Captain pleaded.  "It's not murder.  It was a lawful execution... the man was under orders..."

"I DON’T CARE!   HE KILLED MY KRISTOFF!" she shouted at him.  "WHO DID IT? WHO ORDERED HIS DEATH?!”

"Madame..." he begged again then turned to Tommy and motioned for him to take her away. Anna would have none of it.  She realized she had the answer in her hands.  She turned the page and she saw immediately another familiar set of handwriting.

_NO! It can't be him!_

The man who carried out Kristoff's execution wrote his own narrative to attest to completing the order at the end of the court martial.  He then signed his name on the ledger in his usual neat and eligible script:

Colonel Johannes Kristian Jorgenbjorgen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You’re probably all going to hate me now but this was how I thought it would go from the start of the first chapter when I wrote Kristoff’s letter. I commend a lot of my Guest Reviewers who have gotten close to the theory that Hans is hiding something about Kristoff even early on, but you probably didn’t realize it’s this drastic. I do appreciate all the wonderful reviews you sent and I’m glad I got you thinking on this mystery but I do hope you forgive me for pushing your heartstrings to the limit. 
> 
> To give you a background on why Kristoff could desert you need to understand the situation of the Grande Armee in Moscow. Napoleon took Moscow on September 14, just a week after the bloody Battle of Borodino. You can imagine the army had not yet recovered fully from that hellish battle before they were faced with a desolated city that was burned completely by the Russians. Starvation soon set in as winter approached and there was little food to go along. Napoleon stuck to Moscow for more than a month and was forced to begin retreat on October 19. By then a lot of what remained of the army had died of hunger, disease and infection from untreated wounds. The desperation can hit any soldier hard and it must be even harder for the foreign soldiers like the Arendellians who were merely forced into this war. They had no true stake in it and most just wanted to survive so they can go home. It’s not surprising Kristoff would be among them.
> 
> Here’s my explanation about the report that Anna found: Realistically, Kristoff and the other Arendellians who were probably of peasant origins wouldn’t know how to speak or write in French. Their court martial confessions would have been written in their native tongue. However, these would have been translated to French and that version would end up as the official military report. So what happened here was Holford was able to purge the official record in French, but he failed to destroy the original confessions written in Arendellian.


	18. Close the Door

Shock had a funny way of numbing a person.  For a brief moment, Anna felt like was falling down a step that didn’t exist when she expected it to be there.  For an infinitesimal second, everything was a cloud of confusion where she felt nothing at all.  And then the senses kick in and send a horrible jolt like a tidal wave crashing into her, building one horrible thought after another until it was all that mattered in her strange new reality.

_He killed Kristoff.  Hans killed Kristoff.  The man I cared for who I treated like a brother killed the father of my children then lied to me about it.  He lied to me! It was all a lie!_

"Princess, please let me help you.  I'll take you home," she heard Tommy say.  He offered his arm but Anna shook her head and almost slapped his hand away.  No warmth of a caring hand can reach her, not when the one man she thought who had offered such warmth had proven traitor.

_Perhaps that was his intention all along.  'A Westergaard through and through,' that was what Holford said.  He had been playing me from the start and I was a fool to let him in all over again!_

With sudden renewed strength, she stood on her own, left the ledger on the floor and walked out the door of the office.  She didn't know exactly where she was aiming to go but somehow her feet automatically retraced her steps straight back to Mr. Einsborg's office.    

She was contemplating how to demand from the Danish clerk to bring Hans out when she saw that the office was left wide open and that she no longer needed to demand.  There was Hans himself standing next to the clerk and another older decorated man she recognized as Marshal Ney.

The villain met her eyes with a smile and suddenly something within her snapped.  Anna was on him in a second hitting him on the chest, on the face and any part of him she could strike, before he could even say a word.

"YOU MURDERER! YOU BASTARD MURDERER!"

"Madame please!" Captain Bertole pleaded behind her but Anna gave him no attention.  She continued to pound at Hans.

"YOU KILLED MY KRISTOFF!   THE WHOLE TIME WE SPENT TOGETHER YOU KNEW HE WAS DEAD! I  ASKED YOU ABOUT HIM AND YOU LIED TO ME! YOU KILLED HIM! "

"Anna please if you'll just let me explain..." Hans gasped, wide-eyed and horrified like a desperate animal.  Anna didn’t believe in it for a second.

"There's nothing to explain! You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM! Like you tried to kill me and my sister!"

Someone pulled her away from Hans and held her tight so she couldn't move.

"Sir, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have told her," the man holding her said.  "Let me bring her outside to calm down."

"No please, let her go," Hans said gently.  Anna immediately felt the man's hold on her loosen.  She shook herself away from his grasp.  She faced Hans with a rage she never felt before.  His first betrayal of her was nothing compared to this.

"You captured Kristoff Bjorgman and four other Arendellians, do you deny it?" she demanded.

"No," he said sadly, his voice dripped with regret.  "I was ordered to capture them. I didn't know Kristoff was among them until one of my men delivered him to me."

"Then you knew it was him!  You were there on his court martial.  You witnessed the confessions.  You performed their execution!  His execution!  Do you deny it?"

Hans didn't answer.  He looked to her and then to Marshal Ney and Captain Bertole then back to her again.  A single tear fell on his cheek.  "I'm sorry."

Anna hated him! Hated him with a rage so overwhelming she can no longer see straight.  Her eyes stared around the room.  It was spinning madly.  All she could see was Kristoff, her innocent, loving husband shot to death at the hands of this snake she thought could be her friend. 

Her eye caught the gleam of something on Mr. Einsborg's desk.  Without another thought, she approached it and felt the cold metal of the letter opener in her hand.  She swiftly brought it towards Hans' chest, that same chest she nursed so carefully cleaned and changed bandages for weeks.  How she wished she had let him die.  He didn't deserve to live.

He must have reacted quickly before she did.  She missed his chest but she struck again and grazed his right cheek.  She felt his warm blood splatter at her face before someone pulled her away roughly and wrenched the slim blade from her hand.  She struggled against her captor but he didn't release his hold.  She was dragged away but she fought to stand and face him. 

"I HATE YOU! YOU'RE A MONSTER! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A MONSTER AND I WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO THINK YOU CAN BE ANYTHING ELSE!"

"Anna please..." Hans begged even as the blood on his face continued to gush down his chin.  He didn't even bother to wipe them away."

"I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!  IF YOU SHOW YOURSELF I’LL KILL YOU!  I SWEAR IT!" She screamed before he disappeared from her view completely as she was pulled away towards another empty office. 

Once there, someone held her tight as she sobbed uncontrollably.  She cried until she had no more tears and still it wasn't enough. How was she to live now without the light of Kristoff in her life? 

"I'll... I'll take you home, Princess."

She recognized Tommy's voice and realized it was he who held her ever so gently and yet somehow she could not bring herself to respond.  It didn’t seem to matter if she did.  Nothing mattered anymore. 

***

_The Docks, Copenhagen Denmark_

_January 14, 1813_

“The Captain says we are about to cast off soon Princess.  He would like to ask if there is anything he can do to make you comfortable?”

  _Can he have Hans Westergaard arrested for me? Have him thrown in jail and pay for killing my husband?_

Anna had half a mind to say those words out loud to the young lieutenant that peered into her desolate cabin.  However, she held her tongue.   She had been begging for days from various people for exactly that but it made no difference.  Once she returned to Amalienborg, she had asked her Uncle Frederick to use his influence to give her husband justice against Hans.  He and Cousin Caroline had been sympathetic to her when she told them what Hans did to Kristoff, but in the end he told her the same thing Marshall Ney, Captain Bertole and everyone in the war office said to her when she demanded that Hans be arrested:  Colonel Jorgenbjorgen committed no crime and was merely following orders.  He could not be charged with anything.  Uncle Frederick even warned her that continuing to relate the tale to anyone else among the diplomatic circles would only hurt her husband’s reputation for he would be known to have deserted the military.  Anna begrudgingly kept her silence after that but swore in secret she would do anything to give Kristoff the justice he deserves. 

Hans, meanwhile, kept his distance.  Anna never saw him after their confrontation in the war office.  She knew from the servants in Amalienborg that he didn’t return to the palace.  He sent for the rest of his things to the barracks where he must have stayed.  Anna had no doubt she had been played again and she wondered if the part about Kristoff was the only thing he lied about.  Perhaps everything he told her had been a lie from the start.  Everything about his sad childhood or her Papa’s affair with his mother or even all those convoluted plots of the Westergaards fathering illegitimate heirs had most likely been just a tall tale he spun to gain her sympathy.  For all she knew, he was really targeting Elsa all along with the help of his brothers.  She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

_Well then I just won’t believe anything he said.  He’s a treacherous chameleon who probably never told a truth in his life¸_ she concluded.  _And the more people who know about it, the better._

She told Tommy Thomson about Hans’ treachery and ordered him to spread it only among the Arendellians who were travelling on the ship back with her.  The Arendellian soldiers of course, who had known about Hans’ treason before by their own experience five years ago, had been on her side in an instant.  They alone, felt that Kristoff and the other men executed by Hans had been unjustly killed, as were many other Arendellians who were executed for desertion.  Some of the Arendellian soldiers who came by to sympathize with Anna even offered to hunt Hans down and exact their own kind of vengeance but it was Tommy who provided the voice of reason and said it would do them no good.  Hans had a higher rank than any of them and he was close to the top ranking French officers.  If anything foul happened to Hans, Tommy explained, the suspicion would immediately fall on their Princess Anna.  

So Anna helplessly, had to let it go.  She decided to bid her time.  Once she was home, Elsa would certainly help to find a way to make Hans pay.

“Your highness?” She realized the persistent young Danish lieutenant was still at her door.  “The Captain…”

“I’ll be fine,” she said more harshly than she intended. 

“My apologies,” the man said before he softly closed the door.  He hadn’t been gone five minutes when there was another knock on the door.

“I said I was fine!” she shouted.

“Princess, it’s me.” Tommy’s voice floated from beyond the door.  Anna was immediately sorry.  “Oh… Tommy, please do come in.”

The door opened once more and the teenaged soldier’s head appeared.  “My apologies, your highness, but there was a messenger that came running up the plank just before we lifted it.  He’s asking that this be brought to you immediately.  He insists that that you read it before we cast off and provide a reply.  He raised quite some hell with the crew to delay our departure.  The Captain figured it must be important so he promised to wait for your permission before we leave.”  Tommy held out a crisp white envelope to her.

Anna took the envelope in her hands and turned it over.   Her name was written on the front in a familiar script.  She didn’t need to open it to know who it was from. 

_The nerve of that monster!  Did he think he can write to me and justify his actions?!  Well I’m through listening to his lies! I’m through letting him in!  My door is closed to him forever._

She tore the envelope in two then tore it again into quarters before shoving the pieces viciously back to Tommy.

“Tell the messenger that’s the only answer he’ll get!  The Captain can order for us to leave now without delay.  If anyone dares to try and stop us from leaving, I’ll go out there shoot them myself!”

Tommy’s face whitened with fear at her words.  He nervously nodded and slunk away, softly closing the door behind him.

Once alone, Anna’s anger melted only to be revived with memory of her loss.  She sat back down onto her empty bed and wept once more. 

 


	19. Reunion

_The Fjords of Arendelle_

_January 21, 1813_

 

"We've sighted the port, your highness. The fjord is clear and we will be docking soon."

Anna heard a voice speaking to her but she couldn't understand what he was saying.  She decided it was not worth making the effort. She continued to stare into the ceiling of her cabin.  In her mind, Kristoff looked down at her, smiling at her with his ever charming grin.  She could almost imagine him singing to her one of his ridiculous trollsongs.  What she wouldn't give to smell his pungent reindeer odor or even partake of his horrible grass-seasoned cooking?  She was sure she can at least eat the vegetables from his stew and feed the rest of it to Sven. 

_Poor Sven. Who's going to share his carrots now?  I don't know yet how to talk reindeer.  How will I ever speak to him?_

She didn't know that tears were streaming down her face until she felt a soft handkerchief wipe at her cheek. Startled, she looked up and saw Tommy by her side.  It was he who held out a clean white handkerchief to her, while he held a steaming bowl of porridge in his other hand.  A second bowl was placed on the table near her bed next to a cup of hot glogg.

"Princess Anna, please you need to take in something.  You haven't been eating right for days now."

She eyed the bowl but shook her head.  She had no appetite for it.  Her eyes took to the ceiling once more as she tried to picture Kristoff’s face once more.  _How does his the melody go again about the Ballad of Flemingrad?  I must remember.  I need to sing that to my kids next Christmas. No one sang it to them last Christmas and they could have forgotten it.  Oh they can’t forget that.  Idunn and Agdar must hear it every year until they have learned it too.   It’s part of their heritage, they mustn’t forget!_

"The Captain says we're docking in a few hours.  We'll be seeing Queen Elsa and your children soon.  Please Princess Anna, you don't want your little ones to see you like this," Tommy begged.   "They need their mother to be healthy and strong."

What Tommy said suddenly made her feel ashamed of herself enough to wake her from her stupor and for the first time in days she asked herself: _What am I doing?_

Since they left Copenhagen, Anna never came out of her cabin on the ship.   She barely ate anything, slept only when her body fell unconscious and spoke to almost no one.  The Arendellian soldiers regularly visited her during the early days of their journey but she had little to say to them.  After days of barely any response, they had all given up coming to see her.  Only Tommy came to visit her at regular intervals.  He was the one that pushed food into her and probably was responsible for keeping her physically alive for she didn't exactly know if she was even considered mentally living.  All she could think of was that her life was now so dull without the light of Kristoff in it.  Half the time she wallowed in the sorrow of his loss and the fear of facing her babies to tell them their Papa was gone forever.  The other half of the time, she spent in fury over Hans' betrayal.  She imagined a million ways to kill him but it left her no comfort at all.  Nothing she can think of seemed enough to assuage the pain in her heart.

"Please Princess Anna," Tommy went on.  “Think of little Prince Agdar and Princess Idunn.  You still have them and they need you.  A part of Prince Kristoff will always live in them.  But first you must learn to live."

Anna sat up and wiped away her tears.  She was astonished how this sixteen-year-old boy could be so wise to say something like that.  She met his eyes and then suddenly remembered.

_How could I have forgotten?_

Little Tommy Thomson lost his father at age 12 to an ice harvesting accident one month before Elsa's coronation.   That loss forced Tommy and his younger sister to be left with a mother who was pregnant then with her third child.  His mother in fact gave birth the same night of Elsa's disastrous coronation and their home was among the few houses outside the village that were destroyed accidentally due to the heaviness of the snowfall.   She remembered Elsa had given priority to rebuilding their home and Kristoff had spent months donating part of the profits of his ice business for them when he became the official ice master and deliverer.  It was no wonder Tommy enlisted in the army quite young.  He was essentially the breadwinner of the family and the best hope for them to get out of living day-to-day  from royal charity.  In many ways, this boy had gone through so much more sorrow in his young life than Anna had ever experienced in her 23 years.

"I'm so sorry for being so much trouble to you," she said to him as she sniffled. "You don't need to take care of me like this."

"It's nothing, Princess Anna," he shrugged humbly.  "My family and I would not have survived if you and your sister and Prince Kristoff hadn’t supported us after my Papa passed.  I'm just honored to be able to return the favor for once."

Anna's heart warmed at his generous sentiment.   She sat back at the edge of the bed and took the steaming bowl with the tiny spoon he offered.  "I'll take this in, thank you.  Won't you join me?"

The gallant young soldier sat on the chair beside her bed and sipped at the cup of glogg but his eyes carefully watched as she took in spoonfuls of porridge.  Anna was suddenly aware he was treating her like a patient similar to how she used to watch over her own patients back in the hospital.  The irony wasn't loss on her that the nurse was now being nursed.  

"I don't know if it helps, but I know things will get better eventually," he said gently.  "You still have your family and that's the important thing."

Anna nodded as she felt humbled once more by his words.  This boy certainly knew what he was talking about.  He had probably endured more grief that she had and yet he was still here providing a positive light to someone who needed it.   _He's absolutely right.  I need to live for my children.  If he survived his loss I can too and I'm not going to be a burden to anyone, least of all this young man who probably has his own problems to deal with once he gets home._

"How is your family?" she asked him. 

Tommy lit up with a genuine smile.  "Well. I hope," he replied.  "I received a letter from Mama just before Christmas and she’s just so glad to hear from me.  She said she's still working as a baker in town but when I come home with my soldier's pay we might even afford to open up our own little pie shop.  My sister Elsa has a talent for decorating Mama's pies.  I think we could offer something novel in the village."

Anna couldn't help but smile back.  She remembered that Tommy's little sister was named after Anna's own sister.  Elsa Thomson was the adorable girl that used to idolize and follow her namesake everytime Queen Elsa visited the village.  Anna remembered the little girl once presented the queen with a handmade apple pie decorated with a single snowflake in spun sugar as a topping.  

"I almost forgot, both our sisters are named Elsa. You must be very proud of your sister.  I've seen her work.  She's very good."

Tommy beamed at the praise.  "Yes, Mama and I are very proud of her."  And he went on to tell her eagerly all about himself and his family.  His mother was an assistant baker and he took on as an ice harvester apprentice shortly after his father passed.  His little sister became the official nurse to their baby brother so he and their mother could work.  In many ways, Tommy had a similar childhood to Kristoff. The difference was he had two more mouths to feed than her husband.  And just like Kristoff, It was so touching the way he was devoted to them and how much he looked forward to seeing them again.   Tommy had so many stories to tell about his siblings’ antics that Anna soon found herself enthralled by his tales.  It was so refreshing to think of something else for once that she forgot her own feelings of gloom.  Eventually, she found herself laughing to some of his more funny stories and she became eager to know more about this young lad’s family.

"Your little brother must be what… five years old now?” she asked.

"Yes, quite the troublesome imp," Tommy replied fondly.  "When I left, he was already running around all over the place and sticking his thumbs in Mama's newly baked pies.  We’ve taken to calling him ‘Little Jack Horner’."

Anna laughed once more at the memory of that nursery rhyme she used to read to her twins.  The thought of her children suddenly gave her an idea.

"He's almost the same age as my children.  We should get them to have a play date."

Tommy suddenly blushed beet red.  "Oh, your highness, I would never dare... I mean your children are royalty... my brother and I… we're just humble folk..."

Anna understood his hesitation.  She remembered well her governess' words when she asked to play with children of commoners when she was five years old:  "Princesses do not play with commoners.  It's tradition for royalty to be above the common people.  Mingling with them is out of the question."   _Well Frau Benedicta's traditions can hang.  I'm going to let my children play with as many common folk as they can meet and I can start with Tommy’s siblings.  It’s ridiculous that we haven’t let my twins out to play before with the other children._

"Royalty or not, it doesn't make a difference.  We're all Arendellians and that's all there is to it," Anna assured him.  "They're children and they should play together.  I'd be honored to have my children play with your brother."

"I... I'm sure my brother will be honored as well," Tommy nodded gratefully.

"What's your brother's name? I suppose it's not really Jack Horner?" she teased.

Tommy said nothing and looked away.  Anna realized he was suddenly uneasy.  "Tommy... did I say something wrong?"

He shook his head and his hand went to the pocket of his coat, but she could see through the indentation of his fingers, he was tinkering with whatever he had in there self-consciously.  "Of course not your highness, it's just that... my brother...”

Anna took his other hand to reassure him.  “What is it?”

He heaved a sigh but refused to look at her directly.  “His name is… well… his name is... Hans."

He muttered the last word almost in a whisper but Anna caught it and she dropped his hand.  She immediately shuddered.  However, she composed herself as she reasoned:  "Well, I suppose it's a common name."

Tommy remained silent for several moments and Anna understood that there was more to it than that.  

"Look, your highness, I supposed you will know eventually.  My sister and I named him Hans... after Prince Hans."

"What?" Anna gasped.  She could think of no reason why Tommy would do that.

"Please don't be mad,” he pleaded desperately.   “I know what he did was horrible but he wasn't all evil.  Well at least I know of one incident when he wasn't."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked doubtfully.

The teenage soldier swallowed hard before he spoke again.  "Do you remember my mother gave birth the night of Queen Elsa's coronation?”

Anna nodded but said nothing to let him continue.

He stared down at his coat, his hand still in his pocket, fingers twitching there again in an obvious sign of discomfort but he managed to go on:  “Most people don't know she went into labor during the coronation ball.  I was out looking for a midwife but I couldn't find one as everyone was busy celebrating near the castle.  And then it started really snowing hard and our house... well we live at edge of the mountain and our roof wasn't really fortified quite yet for the winter since Papa was no longer there to do it."

Anna's mouth fell open as realized the implication of that fact.  She knew his house was destroyed but she never really knew the details of how it came about.   

"My sister came running to me while I was knocking at the doors of the almost empty village.  She said our roof was about to collapse and Mama was stuck inside.  We couldn't move her.  We weren't strong enough.  I went to the castle to get help but people all around me were busy trying to get out of the snowstorm and would not listen to me.  Then I saw this elegantly dressed man.  I didn't know who he was but he seemed to be in charge because he was getting people to move to get everyone to shelter.  I went to him and told him my Mama was trapped in our house.”

He paused and his eyes gained a far away look as if he was remembering it.  “He didn't even hesitate.  He ran with me and saw our roof was already creaking with the weight of the snow.  He just went in and carried her out, just seconds before the roof gave way.  He brought her all the way back to the village and got her to a midwife just in time to give birth to my baby brother.  After that, he had my sister and I bundled up and given a warm dinner that came from the castle kitchens.  Before he left, I asked for his name and he said it was 'Hans.'  My sister and I decided right there that was the name of our little brother."

Anna could just picture Hans doing heroics.   _It's what he does.  But he probably did it for an ulterior motive. I’m sure of it.  Perhaps he did this one deed so he can use it to win favor with the peasants._

"Princess Anna, I know he did awful things," Tommy said hesitantly.  "But for one instance he did save my mother's and my brother's lives and I can't help but be grateful to him for that."

_And perhaps it’s that misled gratitude that made you stop the other Arendellians from exacting revenge on Hans,_ she thought though she said nothing out loud.  She was grateful for Tommy’s assistance and she didn’t want to sound as if she was berating him for his beliefs.  Besides, if she thought about it, Tommy’s reasons for not encouraging violence among the Arendellians were well… reasonable. 

"Princess, I know he hurt you," continued Tommy as his hand fidgeted once more in his pocket. "And perhaps you don't think now is the right time that I bring this up…"

He stopped speaking as there was a knock on the door and a voice called out.  "Princess, we've arrived.  You may want to get ready to disembark."

Anna didn't realize how much time had gone by since she became aware that Tommy was there.  Her bowl of porridge had long lay empty and his glass of glogg lay just as empty next to it on the nearby table.

"I'll be right out," she called towards the door before she turned back to Tommy.  "You were saying?"

But the young soldier just shook his head.  "It can wait your highness.  I'm sure you're eager to see the Queen and your children."

Anna beamed at him.  "Yes I am.  And I'm sure you're just as eager to see your family as well."  She got up and offered her arm to him.  "We’ll talk more once we’ve met them.  Will you escort me down?"

"With pleasure, your highness," he replied as he held his own arm for her to take.

"You know, you ought to stop calling me that.  Just Anna is fine."

The young man blushed.  "I wouldn't dare... I mean I wouldn't be able to... not in front of other people."

Anna chuckled but understood that people were not used to going on first name basis with her when others were around.  "Well, in private then."

"Oh, alright... uh… Anna."

“It’s a start,” she smiled.

They walked to the deck together where they were immediately greeted by a group of Arendellian officers who bowed in reverence to her.  The ship captain was among them and he said it was her privilege to disembark first.   Anna gratefully thanked them and went ahead to the edge of the boat to get her first glimpse of her home since she left it months before.  As she stepped towards the now lowered gangplank, she was met with an unusual sight.  Dozens of people had turned up at the port.  Whole families, mostly women and children were waiting at the pier with eager looks on their faces.  

She spotted Elsa almost immediately.  Her platinum blonde hair and teal gown made her easily visible in the crowds.   She stood to the side of the port next to a closed carriage and several gentlemen she recognized as among the courtiers and ambassadors she often saw at court.  She couldn't see her children at all anywhere.

Elsa met her eyes and a smile encased her face.  Her sister immediately waved at her frantically but Anna could only raise a hand to acknowledge as her grief hit her again with a fresh wave of pain.  It became even more apparent when the crowds of women and children below began shouting out the names of their husbands and fathers on the ship and the eager soldiers began responding in earnest.

Dozens of voices suddenly rent the air as families began to shout out welcoming and affectionate words.  Each pronouncement felt a stab at her heart.  Kristoff was no longer here to welcome her or respond lovingly to her.  She felt her knees give way but a pair of arms steadied her.

"Are you alright, Anna?" Tommy asked and she nodded, slightly embarrassed by her weakness.  She looked behind her and realized there were several men there and she was holding up the line in the gangplank where the men were trying to get down from.

"I'm alright, Tommy.  Just help me down."

The teenage soldier didn't need to be told twice.  He assisted her until they reached solid ground.

“TOMMEEEE!” came a shrill childish cry.  Anna turned and saw a middle-aged woman with a small boy in her arms and followed by a young girl at her side came rushing forward.  Both mother and daughter pushed past the crowds and started shouting rather ecstatically:

"Tommy! Tommy! My baby, you've come home!  Come here and hug your Mama!”  Her cries were echoed by the girl but it was the little boy in her arms that touched Anna most of all.  The five-year-old, held his arms out wailing almost madly: “TOMMMEEEEE!”

Tommy's grin widened but he did not dare move away from Anna.

"I'll be alright Tommy.  Your family’s waiting,” Anna reassured him.

Another blush bloomed his cheeks and Tommy merely muttered an excuse to her before running towards his family and meeting them for hugs and kisses.

"ANNA! You're home!"

Anna turned in the direction of her sister's voice.  A split second after she turned her head, she was immediately enveloped by a pair of warm arms.  It felt good to be hugged and for a long moment she just savored the feel of Elsa's embrace without any words as fresh tears fell down her cheeks.

"I was so worried about you," Elsa murmured.  "But everything's going to be alright now.  We're together again.  Our family's back together!"

Anna pulled away from Elsa but found her throat too thick with tears to speak.   _How can I tell her our family will never be together as a whole anymore with Kristoff gone?_

"Ahhh, don't be sad Anna," Elsa said cheerfully as she wiped Anna's tears with her gentle fingers.   She didn't appear to realize her sister's grief and went on to chatter animatedly.  "You'll be with your children soon.  Agdar and Idunn are waiting in the castle with a special surprise.  But first things first.  Where's Hans?"

Anna recoiled at the name and pushed away from her sister so fast that Elsa was startled into producing a bit of frost that fell in flecks on her shoulder.

"Don't ever mention that monster's name again!"

Elsa gave her a puzzled look.  "Anna... I thought you said you've become friends... you wrote to me that you've reconciled.  I invited him to come.  He's suppose to come here with you.  What happened?"

Anna swallowed hard as tears began to choke at her throat.  "He... he killed... my Kristoff... executed him... for desertion..."

Elsa stared at her with shock.  “What?  What do you mean?”

“Kristoff’s dead, Elsa!  He’s not coming back.  Hans… he killed him, Elsa.  Hans killed my husband.”

Anna was suddenly enveloped once more in her sister's fierce hug.  "Where did you hear that?" Elsa whispered to her in a voice that was both dangerous and frantic.  Anna felt a sudden drop in temperature and knew at once Elsa's emotions were also rising.

"Report... in Copenhagen war office... I wanted... to kill him... he doesn't deserve to live..." Anna rasped.  

"Where is he now?" Elsa demanded.  Anna suddenly felt a surge of hope at what appeared to be her sister’s rightful indignation.   _Elsa will punish Hans for me.  She'll find a way to make him pay for this._

"He took a ship to Sweden to join the army there or maybe find his next victim to exploit," replied Anna.  She was rather surprised that came out rather straightforward.  "I'm not even sure how much he told me was true.  But I'm not going to rest until I make him pay for this.  Help me Elsa?"

"Who else knows about what Hans did?" Elsa steadily asked but still low enough as a whisper.

"All the Arendellians on the boat with me.  And I hope they tell every single person they meet how that monster killed my husband then lied to my face—"

Anna abruptly stopped as she realized Elsa was looking like she was suddenly terrified of what Anna just said.  And she seemed even more frightened when the group of Arendellian courtiers that had been standing by turned their attention to them at her outburst and approached with concern.

"Is everything alright your majesty?" one handsome courtier Anna recognized as Ambassador Svenson asked.

"Everything is fine, Ambassador," Elsa replied curtly.  "If you don't mind, I need a moment with my sister.  We haven't seen each other for so long."

It was a clear dismissal and the ambassador immediately backed down.  Elsa waved at Kai. The portly Arendellian stewart appeared to sense the urgency and was beside them in less than a moment

"What is it your majesty?"

"Get every single man on that boat proceed directly to the castle right now.  Confine them for the moment to the ballroom. Don't let a single one of them leave your sight or speak to anyone else until I see them personally," ordered Elsa.

Kai seemed startled by such an odd request and Anna was just as puzzled.  "But they're all going off to their own homes? To be with their families." He pointed to one soldier who was already walking away with his wife while he bounced his little son in his arms.

"I'm sorry but their reunion with their families will have to wait.  Get every single man, including the crew." Elsa said firmly.  "Do it now! Their queen commands it!"

Anna was astonished and confused at Elsa's order.  She had never seen her sister like this before.  Kai seemed equally puzzled but moved on to obey and had the guards mobilized to retrieve back all the men from her ship.

"Elsa what's going on?"

"This is not the time Anna," was all Elsa said.  Elsa's eyes were not focused on her but on the courtiers who were curiously staring at them again.   Before Anna could ask again, her sister quickly pulled her towards the waiting carriage.

"Elsa, I don't understand..."

"Get in, Anna!"

"But Elsa..."

"I'm sorry Anna.  I don't have time for this.  Get in!"

Elsa's tone was so commanding that Anna had no choice but to obey.  She expected Elsa would climb into the carriage with her that she was startled when Elsa closed the door instead.

"Elsa what's going on?"

But her sister wasn't even listening to her.  

"Get her out of here," Elsa ordered the driver of the carriage who she couldn't even recognize from the hat and cloak that covered his entire head.

The carriage pulled away so abruptly that Anna didn't even have time to shout back at her sister.  

"Hey! What's going on?" Anna called to the driver as soon as she got her bearings back.  By then, they had already cleared away from the town and were headed, she realized not for the castle but towards the woods that led to the north mountain.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! I'm the princess! I demand you stop this carriage right now and tell me what the hell is going on!"

The driver didn't seem to hear her.  He just kept on driving and even urged the horses to go even faster towards the thicker part of the woods where no one could even hear her scream.  She should be frightened but she was just far too angry that she threw caution to the wind.  She banged at the window with her fists. 

"STOP THIS CARRIAGE! STOP IT AND TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON WHOEVER YOU ARE!"

Surprisingly, he did stop.  As soon as her transport halted she scrambled out of it and faced with the driver though she remembered to keep her distance.

"Who are you and why did Elsa send me away?"

The driver slowly got down from his carriage seat, but he did so with a smooth grace that was all too familiar.  

"Anna, I'm so sorry it has to be this way.  It wasn't how Elsa and I planned it."

Anna gasped as she recognized the voice she no longer expected to hear in this life.  She knew who it was even before he tugged off  his cloak and hat.

"Kristoff."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t help but create an entire backstory for Tommy. I wanted to flesh out the situation of the peasant families in this war. If you think about it, why would someone volunteer to go to a war they had personal no stake, and the answer is quite simple: it’s a way to survive. I mean this is the 18th century and women would not be able to earn as much as a man would at this time. So Tommy’s mother, even if she’s the best baker in Arendelle would have earned less just because she’s a woman. With three mouths to feed and no husband, she would struggled to get by on her job until Tommy, the first boy in the family could find a viable career to support them. The military is a way to do so, because it offers a better income. And if a soldier dies in battle, there would have been a pension for his family. It’s quite tragic actually that a lot of soldiers do end up giving their lives just to see their families better off and some of them are practically still children by our modern standards.


	20. Guilty... Death

Anna didn’t stop to think if this was a dream or if she was seeing a ghost.  If it was either possibility, she didn’t want to waste time before she woke up or the specter before her faded into nothingness.  She ran to Kristoff and enveloped him in her arms.  She felt his familiar warmth and pungent scent that she had known about him for years and she just wanted to drink it all in.  His lips suddenly met hers and she responded hungrily to him with a violent intensity that was almost bruising. 

They both collapsed to the ground, she on top of him, her lips still unwilling to part from his while her hands reached out to touch every inch of him she can reach. Her fingers threaded through his hair then moved to touch the scratchiness of his beard that she knew had grown unchecked for several days. 

“Anna…” he gasped when he pulled away slightly to breathe.

“You’re alive!” she cried out in a way that demanded it was true for she feared she had to do something to make sure he didn’t fade away.

“Yes, it’s me.  It’s really me. I’m alive and you’re home.”

That was all Anna needed to hear.  She took his lips again and he met her with his own ferociously desperate kisses that moved from her mouth down to her neck.  One of his hands fumbled at her bodice while his other hand snaked under her dress.  She instinctively allowed him, clumsily aiding him as he tried to remove whatever clothing that came between them.   After a few messy tries, Kristoff just impatiently ripped through whatever fabric got in the way.  Anna let out a cry as he plunged into her and for several moments the world faded away as she gave in to this unbridled passion that she never thought she could feel again.  He was here, that was all that mattered.  Her whole body, mind and soul claimed him again.  She re-explored his body, and savored his every breath, every kiss, and every quiver.   She grew drunk with his voice even when he spoke only one word over and over again like he was chanting a prayer or signing the refrain of a delightful song:

“Anna… Anna… Anna...”

She wasn’t even aware she was echoing his chants with his name until she finally lay on his chest, sated in the warm afterglow of their lovemaking. 

“You came back to me, Kristoff, you came back and kept your promise,” she said to him as tears streamed down her cheeks.

She felt him wipe her tears with the back of his hand, but he looked away when he spoke.  “I know I said I promised I would find a way to come back to you and to our children.  But the truth was, it wasn’t me who did it.  Elsa got me home.”

“Elsa?” she asked as she kissed his reddening cheeks.  “How?”

He still refused to meet her eyes.  “She paid for my ransom to get me home… from a group of Cossacks.”

“The Cossacks?” Anna gasped.  “You mean, you were captured?”

He nodded.  “I was imprisoned for several weeks until Elsa got me released.  She paid a small fortune to get me home.  I was captured by Cossack raiders after I..." His voice faltered.  "I heard you speak to Elsa.  So you must know by now.  I deserted Anna.  I'm so sorry.  I led four men out of the camp and into their doom.  I did it thinking I was saving them, saving us from starvation and death in Moscow.  But all I did was get them killed!"

Kristoff turned away, his face full of shame, but Anna held him tight in her arms as he openly sobbed.   "You have nothing to fear from me.  Kristoff whatever happened you know I will always love you.  I will never judge you.  You will always have me." 

It took him a while before he looked at her straight but when he finally did, she could see the look of utter gratitude in his eyes.  There was a haunted aspect about them that wasn't there before and Anna realized this was a very different Kristoff than the one she had parted with less than a year ago.  He seemed to have aged decades and the carefree innocence he once possessed no longer existed.  She wondered if she also lost that same sparkle of life after what she had witnessed in this war and somehow the thought that they both lost something gave her comfort.  They both changed but they at least had each other and they were going to get through this. 

"I'm here now, Kristoff.  Tell me what happened," she said softly, calmly urging him with a touch of her fingertips on the stubble of beard she was so familiar with. 

He swallowed hard, his gaze desperately not leaving hers as if her eyes were the only one keeping him from falling apart. Then he began to speak...

 

****

_Moscow, Russia_

_October 13, 1812_  

He only understood two French words from what the judge at the tribunal said.  But it didn't really matter.   He didn't need to wait for Captain Bertole's translation. Those words were enough. 

Coupable...  Mort. 

Guilty... Death.

Apparently, Jarl Krigsten understood it as well.  The seventeen-year-old boy he had taken under his wing fell to his knees and openly sobbed.  He wanted to take the young man in his arms to comfort him but he couldn't.  The ropes binding his hands at his back prevented him from moving.  It was Bjarne who spoke to young Jarl calmly to remind him to compose himself.  His words got through and the lad made a herculean effort to quiet his sobs. 

 _He's the bravest lad I know,_ Kristoff thought with admiration even as he fought for calm himself as the guilt sliced through him.   _If I hadn't taken the boy with me, he would not be here now.  He would be back in the barracks, freezing and starving like the rest but at least he would not be facing certain death._

He stared at the other three men, his co-accused.   Bjarne, Kjekk and Daniel all stood still, stoically accepting the sentence as Captain Bertole recited it in Arendellian: "

Death by firing squad. At dawn tomorrow." 

Something in Kristoff snapped at the word "tomorrow" and he came forward, prostrating himself towards the judge. 

"Let them go please.  I led them to desert! I accept the punishment.  Kill me but let them go!" The judge didn't seem to hear him or chose not to.  He merely stood up and began moving to the door of this beaten up abandoned house that was used as a courthouse since the army had come to Moscow. 

"Listen please!" Kristoff cried out before he turned towards Captain Bertole, to plead to him to translate.  However the French translator had already left.  Desperately, Kristoff's head swiveled to the far right to the only other man in the room that could translate for them.  The entire length of the proceedings, the red-headed Colonel from Kristoff's past stood still and quiet as a statue, his face a complete mask.  Kristoff remembered well this cruel man that tried to kill his wife and his sister-in-law.   Kristoff would rather die than seek his help but right now it was no longer just his life on the line and his desperation overruled his anger and fear. 

"Colonel, please tell them it was me! It was all me!  I led them into this!"

The man's cool green eyes rested not on him but on Jarl.  The boy seemed to shrink at his gaze and Kristoff sensed something akin to pity in Hans' expression.   For a moment Kristoff felt a surge of hope that increased even more when Hans politely called out to the judge and spoke to him in French.  The judge stopped to listen, replied curtly, nodded then went on his way. 

"What is it? What did he say?" Kristoff called to Hans just as the guards began to take his fellow accused away.  A fifth guard had come up from behind him to do the same. 

The former prince looked at him with those cold green eyes and replied without emotion in Arendellian:  "He's granted all five of you a full meal tonight from the stores from the officers' table and another one come morning.  Your execution proceeds after breakfast." 

Hans turned away and Kristoff felt his world crash once more.

*****

_Moscow, Russia_

_October 14, 1812_

Kristoff couldn't remember the last time he was this full.  Dinner and breakfast had been filling in a way he hadn't felt in months.  It wasn't much but it was still a feast considering he had been getting by on scraps for such a long time.  A gnawing resentment hit the pit of his stomach when he had been served the chunk of bread, cheese and warm soup last night.   A bottle of rum had also been sent their way.  It wasn't the finest alcohol he had tasted but it was still of a quality Kristoff hadn't partaken in such a long time.

If this was the regular fare of the French officers' tables then they had been holding out on the rest of the army.  They dine like this while we starve out in the cold.  Then they dare sentence us to death for just trying to survive! Those bastards! They're all corrupt souls like that Hans.  I bet he's the one that influenced the judge to move our execution date a day after the sentence.

His resentment made him almost not accept the food last night.  He wanted nothing more than to hurl it into the face of the guard that brought it to them.  But in the end his hunger won out and he ravenously ate with his other co-accused.   

He'd heard somewhere that men who had only one day left to live no longer sleep on their last evening to savor their few remaining hours.  However, he found the opposite.  He had fallen asleep almost immediately after dinner.  The exhaustion from their escape, capture and the three hour court martial had worn him to the bone.   Kristoff was awakened before dawn, refreshed and served with a breakfast just as rich as the one last night.  He couldn't help but wonder at the irony of the decision of the judge to feed them well.

_It seems such a waste.  I am going to be dead in a few hours.   It wouldn't matter if I had breakfast anymore._

He didn't want to think of it too much.  He partook of the meal, silently grateful that he would go to his death at least without the hunger pangs in his stomach.  A certain dignity was granted to them at least.

At exactly six 'o clock, guards came over to their cell and ordered them out.  Kristoff wasn't surprised that Hans was among them.  He seemed to be the highest ranking officer among the soldiers leading them to their execution. 

 _I_ _t figures.  He wants to see me dead.  Maybe he'll even send a letter to my wife and tell her in gruesome detail how I died a traitor.   Dear Lord, please don't let him do it.  I can't bear for Anna to know._  

They walked for about a quarter of an hour to a wooded area, far away from the camps.  Here, the burnt trees were half covered in snowfall and the ground was similarly blanketed in white.  Kristoff marveled at the beautiful scenery before him that reminded him painfully of home. 

 _A small mercy that I will die in the midst of ice and snow that had been such a big part of my life._  

He looked up as Hans ordered for them to stop.  _This is it.  Here is my final resting place._  

They were ordered to stand in a line then to his surprise the guards took off the ropes binding their hands.  However, everything became clear when five shovels were thrown at their feet and Hans uttered his curt order as he pointed to the ground: "Get to work." 

Kristoff realized Hans was making them dig.  

He glared at the former prince.  So this was the reason Hans requested for them to be fed well.  It's to ensure they have enough strength to carry out digging their own graves.  He wasn't going to be bothered putting energy in doing any dirty work.   

"Typically evil until the end," Kristoff muttered a little louder under his breath.  It earned him a look from Hans.  He expected to be punished for the comment but he no longer cared.  In a few minutes he would be dead anyway.  There was no use pretending to be civil. 

However, the punishment never came.  Hans merely stood as if he heard nothing, his face as cool and impassive as ever.  Kristoff took his assigned shovel and began digging with his companions.    To his surprise, the ground here was softer than expected.  That was rather odd for snowfall should have made the ground harder for digging.  This earth felt like it had been disturbed quite recently.  A sickening feeling suddenly invaded his gut that it probably was because this was where other men who had deserted before had been buried as well.  He and his co-accused might be digging someone else's grave and will soon be adding their own bodies to the growing stack of dead in this grim traitor’s cemetery. With a renewed resentment, Kristoff's raised his gaze to Hans once more. 

"You're scum of the earth, you know that!" he spat.  "You can bury us like traitors, but one day you'll face your own reckoning." 

"Shut up and keep digging," Hans replied but his tone was still as calm and collected as ever.  His controlled manner lit a fuse on Kristoff and he threw his shovel down. 

"Or you'll do what?" Kristoff challenged. Hans stared at him lazily as if he wasn't even bothered by the outburst.  Kristoff was just beginning to wonder if Hans even heard him at all when the former prince raised his pistol and directed it to Jarl's head. 

"Keep digging in silence or I shoot him right now and you can dig with his brains splattered all over your feet." 

Kristoff shrank down and picked up his shovel once more, even as he held his breath.  He only let it out when Hans put the gun down.  Kristoff went on to work, with only the sounds of their shovels and quiet sobs of his companions as background.  His mind raved between prayer and recalling the faces of his family.  

 _Forgive me Anna, I won't be able to keep my promise to come home to you.  Take care of Idunn and Agdar.  Take care of Sven and my troll family.  If God is merciful, I pray He'll let me see you in the next life._  

"Stop! That's enough," Hans ordered them. 

Kristoff looked up puzzled.  The holes they have dug were quite shallow.  He had his share of burying dead animals in the past.  You could not have lived long in the mountains without experiencing burying dead farm animals at some point.  By experience, Kristoff knew these holes were not even deep enough to keep a rotting dead body from giving off smells.  However, Kristoff kept his mouth shut as he watched with confusion as Hans dismissed all the other guards.   Kristoff looked at his companions but they all shrugged with confusion at this odd scene. A dozen scenarios played at Kristoff's head but they all pointed to the same idea: Hans was sending the guards away so he can torture them without anyone witnessing his actions.  Kristoff imagined that he and his companions could spring at Hans but he dismissed the plan almost immediately.  They were all unarmed and still standing in a hole.  Even if they attempted to jump Hans he would have ample time to shoot at any of them before he can be subdued.  And Kristoff didn't truly believe the guards have gone far.  Hans wasn't that stupid to be left alone with five prisoners. 

"You," Hans pointed to Jarl then motioned to a spot near the boy's feet.  "Keep digging in that spot.  The rest of you help him, except for Lt. Bjorgman."

He eyed Kristoff and motioned him to stand a distance away from the others. 

Kristoff slowly obeyed and Hans followed him. "What do you plan to do to us?" Kristoff demanded. 

Hans' response was to throw something at him.    Kristoff caught the round object with his hands.  He looked down and saw it was a compass.   He stared up puzzled and was surprised to see Hans' expression now looked grave. 

"I hope you know how to use that.  Needle always points north.  Head east.  When you get to the sea, sell that.  It's worth something from the gold plating alone.  Buy yourself passage to Arendelle." "What?" was all Kristoff could mutter as he stared at the man.  He couldn’t understand what Hans’ game was and what he was getting at by giving him a compass. 

"We've found something," Bjarne’s call interrupted his thoughts.  Kristoff looked over to his co-prisoners and saw them digging out what seemed to be a small rucksack from the overturned earth. 

"Those are all the rations I can get without inviting suspicion," Hans said evenly.  "Take them and get these men out of here.  Bring them home." 

Kristoff stared at Hans for a long moment until what he said sank in.  _He's letting us escape!_  

"Why... why are you doing this?" asked Kristoff.  He was mulling over in his mind if this was somehow a trick to get them in worst trouble that would mean a more painful death.

Hans averted his gaze but Kristoff could still read his discomfort in the way he stiffly spoke.  "Elsa spared my life.  This makes us even." He had not expected that answer and he realized Hans was really letting them go. 

"Thank you," was all Kristoff could think of saying.  He still couldn't believe this was happening.  He and his companions were being given another chance to live. 

"Don't thank me," replied Hans harshly.  "I'm sending you to face dangerous territory unprotected in the middle of a Russian winter.  But I trust you're smart enough to get out and get to Arendelle where Elsa can grant you immunity.  If you want to thank me, make sure you don't get caught." 

Kristoff nodded solemnly and turned to his curious companions who had been listening in all this time.  They didn't need to be told anything.  They hauled the rucksack, divided the contents among themselves to distribute the weight and scrambled out of the hole. Kristoff followed after them but turned one final time to Hans. 

"Won't you get in trouble for this?" he asked. "Don't worry about me.  Just worry about yourselves." He paused as if was debating himself for a moment, before his expression softened and he sounded almost vulnerable when he spoke again.  "When you get back... tell Anna and Elsa... I'm sorry." 

"I will," Kristoff nodded gratefully. 

He turned and followed his companions as they ran into the cover of the trees.  Blood pumped into Kristoff's veins, the exhilaration from this sudden freedom, propelled him forward at an even faster pace to catch up with the other men. 

BANG! 

The gunshot halted all five of them in their tracks.  They looked at each other, silently questioning if this was all just a trap they had fallen for. 

BANG!  

A second shot rent the early morning air, as ominous as the first. 

BANG!  

Came the third. By the time the fourth gunshot sounded, Kristoff could breathe easily again.  He turned to his companions to reassure them. 

"He's covering for us.  Let's go." 

They picked up their pace and Kristoff silently muttered a prayer for Hans just he heard the fifth and final shot that should have ended his life but was instead merely released harmlessly in the air. 

***

_Arendelle_

__Pr__ __esent Day_ _

 

 _ _"__ He let you go but pretended he shot you," Anna interrupted Kristoff's tale as she realized why Hans let out five shots in the air. 

Kristoff nodded.  "It was the only way the French army wouldn't go after us.  He gave us the best chance to get away by letting people think we were dead.  But in the end it wasn't enough." 

Anna squeezed his hands but said nothing.  She knew this was something Kristoff had to get off his chest and just the gesture of their hands was enough to prod him. 

"After three days of traveling, Daniel fell ill from one of his previous wounds.  The infection took hold of him and we lost him in just two days." 

Anna blinked back tears.  Daniel had a young fiance he planned to marry when he got home.  Before she left, Anna had promised to sponsor her wedding dress.  She knew the poor girl must have suffered the lost the same way she did when she thought she lost Kristoff. 

"We must have gotten careless. I knew we should have been more alert but after days of traveling guided only by a compass, even the rations Hans gave us ran out.  Maybe it was the hunger or the cold, so we weren’t thinking straight enough to be discreet.  One night while we were hunting for food, Jarl went a little too close to a village.  A group of armed Cossacks saw him and followed him back to our camp.” 

Kristoff shook his head and swallowed his tears.  “Jarl was killed that night with a bayonet to the gut while trying to escape.  Bjarne was severely wounded trying to defend him.  He survived only another four days while the Cossacks marched us back to their camp.  He succumbed to the cold and the Russians just left him in the snow.   Kjekk survived three weeks with me in prison.  But in the end the Cossacks knew he wasn’t a valuable enough prisoner to keep alive.  While they were feeding me fairly regularly because they knew of my status, they were barely giving him anything and I couldn’t help him because they kept us apart.” 

Kristoff’s body rocked once more with sobs and Anna could only hold on to him tightly.  “They died Anna!  They all died because of me!  I led them to their deaths!” 

“No, Kristoff, don’t say that!  It’s not your fault.  You wanted them to live.   You wanted to get them home and you did everything you could.” 

“But I didn’t!  And I survived because I was married to a royal family!  Kjekk could still have lived.  He was still strong enough but the Cossacks didn’t let him because his family wouldn’t be able to pay for him.  Where is the justice there?” 

Anna hesitated to answer.  The world was cruel to those that didn’t have the means.  She had learned that the hard way in the months of serving in the hospital.  The stark contrast between the suffering poor in the hospital and the affluence of the Danish-Norwegian court was a hard lesson she could never forget.  And yet, somehow as selfish as that maybe, she was still glad she was a part of that world of royal influence and power, for it was what brought back her Kristoff to her. 

“Don’t think about it anymore Kristoff.  You’re here, you’re home.  Let’s just be grateful for that.” Kristoff finally nodded as he breathed in deeply to calm himself.  There would be time again in the future, Anna knew, when this painful subject would need to be revisited.  For now, she would let him focus on the present. 

“Tell me what happened after?” she encouraged. 

“I got home by the start of December and I was sick with dysentery.  Elsa was afraid I wouldn’t make it but I eventually pulled through.  She kept me hidden in a cabin in the mountains where the trolls could take care of me.  She couldn’t risk taking me back to the castle and be seen.   She brought Agdar and Idunn to see me regularly but she couldn’t let them stay for long as their absence might be questioned by her courtiers." 

Anna frowned as she was confused again and felt her indignation rise. 

“Why would she do that?” she asked.  “You’re still my husband even if you deserted.  And I don’t care if those stuffy council members knew.  You belong with our children in the castle.  If anyone’s going to be mean to you for just trying to survive, then they can leave.  I’m here now and I’m going to protect you.  I’m sure Elsa will protect you too if I ask her.” 

Kristoff sighed and shook his head.  “It’s not me she’s trying to protect Anna.  She’s keeping me hidden to protect Hans.” “Hans?” Anna asked as she felt even more confused.   “Why would she need to protect Hans?” 

“Oh Anna…” Kristoff replied miserably.  “Don’t you understand?  I’m a convicted criminal and Hans was ordered to execute me.  If anyone finds out I’m still alive and word got back to the army they would know Hans disobeyed orders.  He can be court-martialed for that.  If he is found guilty, the punishment is death.”


	21. What I Knew About Love

"Death?" 

The word hung in the air ominously for a long time after Anna whispered it while her heart raced with chilling dread.  She recalled her reaction at the war office as she confronted Hans and accused him of murder.  He had begged her for a moment to explain, to let him have a word but she had plowed through her anger and even tried to stab him.  She then told everyone that he was an evil man that deserved more than death.  In a horrible twist she realized her impulsive words might have doomed him.

"Oh Kristoff!  What have I done!  I didn't know! I thought Hans had killed you and I blabbed that to people!  If the French army find out..." 

Kristoff nodded.  "I know.  He can get into trouble unless he's here in Arendelle so Elsa can protect him with immunity.  That's why she invited him here." He paused as if to think then continued seriously.  "I figured he's not on the boat with you.  Where is he?" 

"I drove him away!" Anna cried.  Nervous energy pulsed in her veins that she had to stand and move.  "I need to get to him!   I'll tell him I made a mistake and I'll bring him home!" She half-ran back towards the carriage, and scrambled to unhook the harness from the horses.  _I can get back to the port faster on horseback.  Then I just have to find another ship to take me to Sweden..._  

"Anna stop!  What are you doing?!" Kristoff asked while she was figuring out how to disentangle the complex knots that made up the harness.

"I'm sorry Kristoff.  You need to stay here and keep hidden.  I need to go." 

"Go?" he asked, clearly baffled.  "Go where?" 

 _Can't Kristoff see that I don't have time to explain this!_   "Just help me get this off!" He just stood in front of her and did nothing. 

"What are you trying to do?" he asked. 

She huffed audibly then went on trying to untangle the knots.  "The horse is faster without a carriage.  I need to go back to the port.   I'll take a ship to Sweden or wherever he went," she hurriedly explained.  "I need to get him to safety.  This is my fault so I have to go find him. I HAVE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT!" 

Instead of helping, Kristoff just held her tight in his arms.  _What is he doing? Doesn’t he get it?  Hans’ life is in danger_! Anna thought frantically as she struggled against his hold.  "Kristoff let go!  Hans needs my help!" 

Kristoff held her even tighter until she can no longer struggle against him.  A cascade of emotions enveloped her once more and all she could do was sob on his firm chest. 

"I messed up Kristoff!  I put Hans in danger when all the while he had risked so much." 

"I know, but you need to let Elsa handle this for now," he said softly, gently like the way he would speak to Sven when Kristoff was trying to calm his reindeer when he was feeling skittish.    "From what I saw before Elsa ordered us out of there, she's doing something already.  It's best that we don't get in the way." 

It hurt to know that Elsa was again cleaning up her mess but she realized Kristoff was right.  As usual, her first impulse is to jump into action without a plan.  She felt horribly incompetent and helpless at the same time. 

"What do I do, Kristoff?" she muttered feebly. 

"Just stay with me and our children for now.  Elsa had a cottage set up for me to stay away out of sight.  She'll have the kids join us there later.  If she needs us back at the castle, she will send word.  Come on, you need to rest." 

He led her back to the coach but Anna decided to sit beside him on the driver's seat.  They road up the mountain in silence, their shoulders touching and their fingers laced together like so many times when they took trips together.  Anna savored the familiar view and smells of the woods and counted her blessings even as the guilt continued to gnaw at her stomach like a festering wound that wouldn't go away. 

The cottage was small and nothing spectacular but it was cozy enough once Kristoff had a flame going in the little fireplace.  They sat together on a rug on the floor close to the warm grate and Anna told him how she encountered Hans at the hospital and his connection to her Papa.  They spoke for hours as they held each other like so many times before.  Anna didn't realize she fell asleep until she was awakened by the sounds of two familiar voices. 

"Mama! Mama!" 

Anna bolted awake from what it appeared to be the small cottage bed to be greeted by kisses from her twins.  For a long time, there was much hugging and crying as their family became whole again.  She marveled at how big her children had grown.  Idunn must have grown five inches since she last saw her.  Despite the blonde hair that matched Kristoff's shade, Anna could see her own mother's features clearly forming on her daughter's face.  They had the same smile and even had the same dimple peeking through the left side of her cheek with every tiny grin.  Agdar, on the other hand, was all Kristoff in terms of features, down to the color of his eyes and the mischievous crinkle of his mouth when he laughed.  Both children immediately talked animatedly about all the fun things they did with their Aunt Elsa, Sven and Olaf while she and Kristoff were away.  Anna fell completely absorbed with the attention for the entire day.  She was glad that despite everything terrible that happened to them over the last few months her children were kept innocently oblivious to all of it.   

 _They have a normal, carefree childhood at least.  I will let them have that as long as I can.  For now I want to have this for now.  Just for now._  

“Anna?” Anna looked up and found Elsa’s gaze.   She immediately found herself in her sister’s familiar hug.   

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Elsa said once they held each other at arms’ length.  “Have you gotten any sleep?  Did you rest well?” 

The way Elsa said it reminded Anna of her father.  There was something about Elsa’s tone, the way she spoke and stood that was so unmistakably their father’s stance.  Anna wondered why she never noticed it before. 

“Yes, Elsa, it was very pleasant.  Thank you for bringing the children.” 

“Okay kids, let’s give your Auntie and Mama some time alone to talk, shall we?” Kristoff said as he herded the twins away. 

Anna was grateful for his instinct.  She and Elsa had a lot to talk about.  Once the bedroom door shut behind Kristoff, Anna grasped her sister’s hand. “Elsa, I need to tell you something about Hans… I made a mistake and he’s in danger…” 

Elsa held up her hands in a gesture for her to calm down.  Again, it was so similar to their father when he was making her settle, it felt almost uncanny.  “It’s okay Anna.  I know.  I’ve taken care of it.  I’ve dispatched a ship to Sweden to bring him here.  He’ll be fine.” 

“But I said some things to some people…” 

“I’ve already gotten that sorted out.  You need not worry.  What matters now is that you’re here and you can catch up with Kristoff and your babies.  Just get some rest and enjoy their company.” Anna heaved a sigh.  It was just like Elsa to resolve things even before Anna can think of solutions. 

“Okay, but I have to tell you all about Hans.  He’s not what we thought he was.  And I think he can help us if he’s here.  Help you with Knudsvig even.” 

Elsa sat at the foot of the bed to be close to her. “Tell me then.” 

Anna immediately launched into telling Elsa everything that happened over the last few months.   She spared no details on what Hans revealed to her, from his terrible childhood to the root cause of it that involved their father. 

“Elsa, you may be shocked to hear of it, but Papa loved another woman.” 

“Hans’ mother,” Elsa finished for her. 

Anna was startled.  “You knew?” 

Elsa nodded solemnly and stared out into space as if she was recalling the memories.  “Mama used to cry to me.  She didn’t say why, but whenever she did she would tell me I can make me her feel better if I did something for her.  She said I need to go to Papa and say I was his first born, that I was his true daughter.   Those were her exact words.  I didn’t understand why she kept asking me to do that but I did.  And every time I said it to Papa he would just freeze up for a moment and tell me, I would always be his first.  It always seemed to please Mama a lot whenever Papa called me ‘his little Queen.’” 

Anna remembered that. _Mama used to smile so happily whenever Papa said those words to Elsa.    I used to be so envious that she didn’t react the same way when Papa called me his “Little Princess.”_

“I found out the truth when I was seventeen,” Elsa went on.  “Papa came to me and told me he was arranging a marriage for me.  His advisers were pressuring him to provide a male heir and Mama couldn’t give him one.  I was next in line and the advisers think my being a woman and my ability made me a liability.  I needed a husband and a son.  Papa said he had a potential match for me and he was meeting him during cousin Rapunzel’s coronation.” 

“Cousin Rapunzel’s coronation?” Anna gasped.  “But that’s the event that Papa and Mama were supposed to go to when their ship…” 

“They never got there,” Elsa said.  “It was just as well.   Mama didn’t agree to the match.  She told me who he was, who his mother was and why Papa wanted him for me.  After all those years Papa never gave up on the idea of bringing him into our family.” 

_Papa was planning on making Hans his son-in-law!  Elsa could have married Hans if Papa and Mama had reached Corona!_

“Before they left on that ship, Mama told me not trust Hans or any of the Westergaards.  She said Hans was most likely going to be bribed to take me as his bride.  She said he was only after what Papa couldn’t give him.  She said I deserved better.” 

 _That was rather unfair of Mama to judge Hans that way,_ Anna thought.  _But who can blame her?_

“So that’s why you flat out refused him when he asked to marry me?” Anna asked. 

Elsa nodded.  “Partly yes.  I knew who he was, the circumstances of this birth and his station as the thirteenth son.   And really Anna, you knew the man for like three hours.  I wouldn’t trust any man that proposes in that short span of time.” 

Anna laughed guiltily.  “Yes, that too.” 

Elsa reached out and affectionately curled a stray part of her Anna’s hair with her finger.  “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew how you loved Papa and Mama. I didn’t want to ruin your good image of them.  As loving parents as they were, they also had their shortcomings.  They were only human.” 

Anna nodded.  It was certainly unnerving to hear more and more of her parents’ less than good sides, but she understood them and found she could not judge them for their actions so long ago.  _Wherever they are now, I hope they’re happy with each other._

“So back to Hans,” Anna went on.  “You think he can stay here if our men find him in Sweden?” 

“I will definitely grant him immunity, if he needs it.” 

Anna squealed and hugged her sister.  “Thank you Elsa, I knew I can count on you.  He can be part of the family, maybe he can have a position in court and—” 

“Whoa! Whoa!” Elsa cut off with her hands held out in a gesture to indicate a plea for calm.  “Hang on a minute, Anna.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” 

“But Elsa, he’s a changed man!  I just know it!  He’s a like a brother to me now and he’s suffered so much. We should make him part of the family, give him the love he deserves.  I know he’ll be a great addition to your court.   Maybe he can even help you with Knudsvig.   I heard Knudsvig’s still a prick.  I bet Hans can kick his ass for you if you asked him nicely—” 

“One thing at a time Anna,” Elsa said with a forced laugh.  “Let’s get him here first.  We’ll see things from there, okay?” 

“Okay, but what do we do with Knudsvig?  I met Lord Nyberg in Copenhagen and he told me all sorts of nasty things Knudsvig’s been doing to you.” 

Anna quickly launched into the narrative of what Lord Nyberg told her.  Elsa merely listened and nodded her head occasionally to affirm that everything the Northern Isles told her was true.   “So what do we do?” Anna asked when she ended the tale. 

Elsa held her hand and squeezed it.  “I can handle Knudsvig, Anna.” 

“But he’s disrespecting you.  We’ve got to do something!  I need to go back with you in court to deal with him.” 

Elsa looked away for a moment but when she looked back she had a reassuring smile on.  “I’ve got it covered, Anna.  He’s not hurting me and I’ve got enough of our people to back me up against him.  Anna, don’t worry about anything. Just stay here.  I’ve already made my excuses for you and the children in court.  You can take a long rest here with them.” 

“But are you sure?” 

Elsa beamed at her, but somehow Anna had a feeling that smile didn’t reach her eyes but she had no time to observe it for Elsa patted her head affectionately.   Strange, how that gesture again reminded her of her father. 

“I’m sure Anna.  Now, I’m going to be very busy with the pull-out of our troops from this war so I might not be able to come to you again.  I will send Kai or Gerda regularly.  Just relax for now, my darling.”   

“Alright Elsa, I’ll do as you ask.” 

“Good, now I’ll get the twins back here.  You have a lot of catching up to do with them.” Elsa dropped a kiss on the top of her head.  It was the same kiss Papa used to give her to tell her to shush but she no longer had time to think for Elsa had hollered for the twins to get back to their mother.  In the next instant, all Anna could focus on was the chubby-cheeked duo who urged her to play with them. 

*****

_January 29, 1813_

_Cabin in the Arendellian Woods_  

 

Over the next few days, Anna remained in the cabin with her little family.  Elsa had not been back since but she sent notes every few days to assure here all was well and she was taking care of things.    It didn’t take long for Anna to read between the lines that her sister was deliberately asking her to stay away from the castle.  She didn't know exactly how to feel about that.  On one hand, she was grateful to Elsa for providing her the time and the privacy to immerse in the company of Kristoff and her children.  On the other hand, she feared it was an indication that Elsa didn't trust her to be around the Arendellian court after she made such a mess.  On top of that, she worried constantly over Hans' safety.  Every time Kai or Gerda came for their regular visits, Anna pestered them with news on Hans.  Each time, their loyal servants gave the same answer: there was still no word from the ship that was sent out to find him.  

This morning Kai slipped and gave her the first indication why it was so difficult to find Hans.  Apparently, borders of their once allied nations were closing everyday.  The atmosphere of another war was looming across Europe.   The fact that Elsa had also not come herself to the cabin to bring the news personally was also a worrying factor.  It meant Elsa was occupied with something important she couldn't possibly get away.   

"You must understand her, Anna," Kristoff said gently once Kai had left and she ranted to him of this latest development over a cup of hot chocolate after they had put the children to bed.  “It’s a bad time for Elsa as things are different in the castle now.” 

“How different?” Anna asked him.   

Kristoff looked a bit confused.  “Didn’t Elsa tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” she asked.   

“About her situation in court?” Kristoff explained.  He stared at her, perplexed. “I assumed when she was here she told you and you didn’t bring it up.  I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.” 

Anna suddenly had a sinking feeling she was left out of the loop somehow.  “What do you know that I don’t know?” 

Kristoff sighed and poured himself a second cup of hot chocolate before he spoke.  “Ever since Knudsvig came back as the crown prince of the Northern Isles, the castle has seen a flock of Northern Islander courtiers come in for indefinite visits.  Elsa's under a lot of pressure not to make a false move with so many new eyes watching her.  And she's being doubly pressured to produce an heir.  It's not helping that Knudsvig's being a..." Kristoff let out a trail of invectives that told Anna exactly her brother-in-law was still the biggest jerk she had ever met. 

"I take it reconciliation between them is not going to happen?" Anna asked.   

Kristoff let out disgusted grunt.  "You know I'm all for the sanctity of marriage.  I grew up in a family that doesn't have a concept of divorce.  The trolls simply don't do that.  They mate for life.  But asking Elsa to stay in that marriage is a torture I wouldn't want my worst enemy to endure.  That arrogant bastard has been blaming Elsa for them not having children.  But he's the one who's been distancing himself even after Elsa tried to extend an olive branch.  And do you know what else he did?" Anna had a feeling she already knew from what she heard from Lord Nyberg but she just let Kristoff continue. "He arrogantly holds his own court of his appointed courtiers in his side of the castle, some of them former Arendellians that had a record of being against your family.  Are you familiar with Lord Bentley?" 

"He's the one Papa fired and banished for stealing crown funds to buy his own private lands," Anna recalled. 

"Well he's back," Kristoff said.  "He's now part of Knudsvig's inner circle and his daughter Lavinia is Knudsvig's latest mistress." 

Anna glowered at the familiar name. Lady Lavinia Bentley had been one of the more unpleasant girls Anna had the misfortune to know since early childhood. Vain, mean-spirited and ambitious, Lavinia mocked Anna as a child in front of other children and spread vicious gossip about her as an adolescent.  Lavinia was sent away when her father was disgraced over an embezzlement scandal but she made a comeback at Elsa's coronation after she married a rich nobleman twice her age.  For the last five years, she was just a social-climbing relatively harmless annoyance around court.  However, now that she had become Knudsvig's mistress, Anna realized she was a thorn that can be potentially dangerous.   "So she's no longer content with just flaunting her husband's money, is she?" Anna couldn't help but mutter spitefully. 

Kristoff nodded.  "Lady Lavinia’s husband is conveniently away from court.  It’s her father that’s stealing the scene these days.   That father-daughter pair means serious business even if I never met them.  They're trying to win over other Arendellian nobles to their side.  Elsa can't prove anything yet but she suspects they are the ones behind the smear campaign against her." 

"Smear campaign?" Anna asked.  She recalled Lord Nyberg vaguely referencing lies told about Elsa but didn't fully explain. "What kind of smear campaign?" 

Kristoff sighed uncomfortably.  "There have been pamphlets spreading across Arendelle, graphic and vulgar depictions of Elsa as a witch and an unholy demon that doomed her country.  There is also a group of religious radicals called the Purification League that have followers roaming the countryside preaching about the evils of a woman ruling.   They claim Elsa must be deposed and burned to death.  They are blaming her for her childlessness and said she is the one causing crops to fail or if a barren woman cannot produce a child and all other sorts of nonsense." 

"But that's ridiculous! No one would believe that about Elsa," Anna exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. 

"Well Pope Pius VII did," Kristoff explained.  "He issued a bull covertly from his French prison supporting the Purification League and condemning the evils of this war. That document has been read in Catholic churches all across Europe on Christmas day. That statement can just push the Catholic minority in Arendelle to join the League." 

Anna pondered at that information and felt confused.  "The Catholic Arendellians were never against Elsa.  She's been tolerant about each citizen practicing whatever religion they have.  In fact, Arendelle has welcomed Catholics even if Elsa is the head of her protestant Church.  The Pope knows that." 

"It's not about religion, Anna.  The Pope is angry at Napoleon for dissolving the Papal States. The Pope himself is a prisoner of France.  Naturally, he will go after every ally of France, even the reluctant ones.  Elsa, as a woman ruler with strange powers few can understand, is the easiest target." 

"That's terrible! Poor Elsa!" Anna cried.  "What can we do?" 

"I can't do anything much right now," Kristoff replied with a hint of regret.  "But you Anna, you need to be there for Elsa when she asks for you.  Keep your eyes and ears on the alert for anyone in the castle.  The place is now crawling with new Northern Isles courtiers.  Some of them are surprisingly supportive of Elsa and against Knudsvig, but Elsa is doubtful they are not motivated by something else." 

Anna couldn't agree more. She told Kristoff of what she heard from Lord Nyberg and what Hans told her of his own brother's plans for Elsa.  If King Caleb planned to take advantage of Elsa's new position as queen-in-waiting of a unified Arendelle-Northern Isles, wouldn't the Northern Islander nobility have thought of a similar plan by getting into Elsa's good graces?  Both of them came to the conclusion that Elsa was now in a dangerous situation where both seemingly friends and outright enemies were potential vipers waiting to strike.   _I only wish I can help you root out those vipers Elsa,_ Anna thought.  _I_

 _'ll trust you to handle things for now, but please, please send for me soon._  

 

***** 

_March 4, 1814_

_Cabin in the Arendellian Woods_  

“Elsa’s shutting me out again.” 

Kristoff looked up from the piece of wood he was carving as a toy reindeer for their son and a worried frown creased his face.  “What do you mean?” 

Anna got up from chair where she had been absently stroking her sleeping twins’ hair.  They had been spending most evenings like this sitting together by the fire after their children were asleep.  Tonight Anna could no longer hold back the ill-feeling she had since that night Kristoff told her what Elsa had concealed from her of the happenings in the Arendellian court. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” she replied.  “It’s more than a month and she hasn’t sent for me or come by or told me what’s really going on.    She didn’t even tell me what’s going on with her in court.  I had to learn that from you.  She’s shutting me out, Kristoff.” 

“She did send Gerda, Anna.  Gerda’s been visiting once a week.” 

“Yes Gerda,” Anna huffed irritably.  “Who tells me the same thing over and over: ‘Just enjoy yourself with your family, Anna.  Don’t worry about a thing.  Elsa can handle things for now, Anna.  Just keep Kristoff out of sight and keep safe.   Focus on your husband and children.  Elsa just wants you to keep your little family happy. Now is time to channel your energy in your DOMESTIC ROLE!’” 

She said the last two words almost as a shout but was careful to keep it down to not wake her children.   

“Calm down,” Kristoff said. 

Anna let out a groan.  “I can’t, Kristoff.  That’s not really Gerda talking.  That’s Elsa.  It’s like she’s… she’s channeling Papa!” Kristoff put down his wood carving and sat on the bed next to her.  “What do you mean?” “You wouldn’t understand,” Anna huffed. 

“Try me,” Kristoff said matter-of-factly in the way that always convinced her to open to him. 

Anna signed.  “Papa’s great but sometimes he’s so traditionalist.  When I was little, he wouldn’t let me do things I wanted that are not ‘proper Princess behavior.’”  She rolled her eyes and lowered her pitch in an attempt to mimic her father’s voice:  “You are not driving a carriage Anna.  Princesses do not drive carriages.  They sit like proper ladies inside the carriage.  Or you don’t need fencing lessons Anna.  Princesses do not sword-fight.  Princesses sew and embroider to make a lovely home for their families.  Or don’t worry your little head about knowing how to stir a ship.  You are never going to stir a ship.  Princesses do not become sailors.  Princesses get married and take care of their children.  I’m sick of it Kristoff!” 

Kristoff dropped the item he was making and stood behind her.  He gently rubbed her shoulders.  “Elsa does let your drive a carriage, and she let you stir a ship once, did she?” 

“That’s not the point, Kristoff!  Yes, she did let me do that, but she doesn’t let me in on the important things.  Like now.”   

Kristoff held his arms wide open and Anna let herself fall into the comfort of his embrace.  “She doesn’t trust me Kristoff,” he murmured into his chest.   “She doesn’t trust me around her at court.  But I can’t be angry at her.  All I do is ruin things.  This last bit with Hans might have ruined Elsa’s trust in me completely.  She practically sent guards to watch over us constantly, maybe to keep me from doing something stupid.” 

Anna was referring to the pair of Arendellian servants that were always on standby outside their cottage.  They have been there for weeks now.  At first Anna and Kristoff thought they were just there to bring them supplies or help them out in their chores.  They did help clean, cook, do the wash and even brought fresh game on the occasion for them.  It was Kristoff who pointed out that these men were not exactly average servants.  They were among Arendelle’s loyal young soldiers and one of them was Kai’s own son.   They often interchanged with other servants every few days, but two always remained behind with them.  It wasn’t hard to conclude that they were there to keep watch over their family but no amount of pleading, cajoling or threats from Anna made them reveal their true orders on why they were supposed to be guarding Anna’s little family. 

“I’m sure Elsa doesn’t think that,” Kristoff consoled her.  “But you are right, something’s not right here or they wouldn’t be keeping watch all the time.  Look, I’ll go ask them tonight.”   

There was a knock on the door and they both stared at it.   

“That’s probably one of them right now,” said Kristoff.  He reached up to open the door and outside was Kai’s son.   

“Pardon me your highnesses,” the lad greeted.   “You have a visitor.” 

Anna immediately got up, almost certain it was Gerda.  _It’s just about time she came in.   Well no time like the present to question her directly.  She probably knows more about what’s going on and I’m not going to let her make anymore excuses._  

However, when she got outside, it was not Gerda at all but a familiar young man. 

"Tommy!" She gasped at the young Arendellian soldier that took care of her on the boat home. 

"Hello Anna," he greeted shyly as he glanced between her and Kristoff.  "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your evening..." 

"Oh no, no.  Tommy you're always welcome.  Do come in for some tea." The boy nodded and followed her into the tiny kitchen of the cabin.  She sat across him on the wooden table they used to dine while Kristoff prepared cups and heated a kettle over the fire. 

"I've wanted to come and see you for quite some time, but I wasn't sure where you were and the castle servants were not too open about telling anybody where you are taking your retreat." 

Anna felt a bit uncomfortable at the word "retreat."  It was a term Elsa used before among her courtiers when Anna had to be sent away due to her untimely pregnancy.  It was Elsa's way of protecting Anna from public scrutiny.  Anna couldn’t help but feel the sting of Elsa’s mistrust against her. 

"I'm really glad your husband is alive,” Tommy continued tentatively.  “It took me a while to find out what really happened..." He paused and glanced uncomfortably at Kristoff.  "I mean of what Prince Hans did." 

Anna felt the beginnings of a blush inflame her cheeks.  She had lambasted Hans to Tommy the most on the trip home.  Would the young soldier rebuke her now for her error?" 

"I'm grateful to him," Kristoff answered on her behalf.  "He's a brave man and I hope our men get him to safety.  Is there any news from the men Queen Elsa sent to find him?" 

"No," Tommy replied.  When he went on he focused on Kristoff but he rambled at the words.  “The thing is… I really came so I can… I mean I have something for Anna… I know… I know I shouldn’t have kept it… but I owed him for my family… and I meant to give it to her… but I didn’t know how she felt… and I… I didn’t know…” 

"Tommy!" Anna half-shook him for she could feel the tension within her rising as she somehow knew Tommy was saying something related to Hans.  "Just tell me what it is!" 

He drew something from his pocket and handed it to her.  It was several pieces of torn paper. "I put it together and read the words after we arrived.  That’s how I found out the truth," he said sheepishly. "I gave it to the Queen to read and it was the only way I can convince her to let me know where you were.” 

Anna slowly unfolded the pieces and immediately recognized what it was. 

 _Hans' letter! The one I tore up._  

"I'll leave you alone to read it," Tommy muttered. He didn't even wait for Anna to reply for both he and Kristoff exited the room immediately.  Anna went to a nearby table and laid out the pieces so they were in the right order.    She lit a few more candles to bring more light in.  A sudden chill seemed to touch her skin and she shivered slightly as she began to read his words. 

 

Dear Anna,

I know I hurt you deeply but you must know the truth. I did not kill Kristoff or any of the other Arendellians he was convicted with.  The records may show that but I didn't do it.  I couldn't do it.  I let them go.

It may be hard for you to believe me after all the instances I've deceived you in the past. In this latest incidence I only have myself to blame for keeping you in the dark.  I wanted to tell you so many times but each time I held back on my own stupid belief that I was trying to spare you pain.  The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you and I kept my silence and tried my best to erase Kristoff's record so he wouldn't have to be branded as a traitor.  History is always unkind to deserters and their families.  A record like that would haunt him and his children for life just as my mother's betrayal of my father had followed me until adulthood.  I don't want you or your children to endure that, especially since I knew Kristoff and those four other Arendellians did not deserve it.

I was serving a sentence for a crime I did which more than makes me deserve to suffer in this war.  But they did nothing to  deserve suffering beside me.  I have seen so many of them in Moscow, poor soldiers who were forced into this war, lay helplessly starving in the cold while they waited indefinitely for an Emperor's indecision on how to move forward.  To say I was starving with them would be a lie for as a cavalry officer I was better fed than any of them.  So when I was faced with that order and saw your husband and the men with him—all familiar faces to me from the time you left me in charge of Arendelle—all I could feel was shame.  How could I kill these men for just trying to survive and attempting to find a way to return to the lives that had been forcibly taken from them? 

Trying to get out of the desolation of Russia surrounded by enemy Cossacks might be an even a harsher death sentence so perhaps it would have been kinder for me to have killed them.  But I just couldn't do it.  Not when they all reminded me of Elsa who had given me back my life even when I didn't deserve it.

So I let them go but I let the records show I did to give them a chance to get away.  I don't know if they did survive but I had prayed nightly that they did.  I meant it when I said before that I hope Kristoff returns to you and your children.  If he does, he comes back a free man and without a stain of a desertion.  I have taken measures to buy Captain Bertole's silence so he would not re-file his report and I will do everything I can to ensure his conviction is wiped away from memory. If he does not return, all I can offer is that his name remains a hero, because that what he is.

Good bye Anna. I wish you peace and a lifetime of happiness.  I will never forget you.  What I knew of love, I first learned from your father and then from you.

Hans 

 

She was sobbing uncontrollably by the end of it.   

 _If only I hadn't let my anger rule me.  If only I read his letter instead of tearing it!  I thought he was the one I should forgive but he's the one that must forgive me.  He gave me back the one thing that mattered to me most and I might have taken his life. I don't deserve his friendship._  She was in such a state of self-loathing when Kristoff re-entered the room.   

“Anna, I’m sorry to bother you but…” Kristoff didn’t need to finish that sentence.  He stepped aside and Anna saw Elsa behind him, her ice gown a distinct shade of purplish-red.  Anna had known her sister long enough to know her gowns change naturally in color based on her moods.  Purple-red was a bad sign.  It meant she was deeply troubled. 

Anna met her and took her hands.  They were painfully cold.   "Elsa, what is it? Is it Hans? Have our men gotten to him?" 

Elsa shook her head.  "The border was closed.  Our men were turned away by a ship patrolling the sea routes.  But that's not the worst of it." 

 _No! He can't be..._  "Is he... dead?  Arrested?" Anna whispered dreadfully. 

"No.  He's still in Sweden.  The French ship that stopped our vessel confirmed it."   

Anna wanted to sigh with relief but she can sense this news was no cause for relief at all.   

"That same ship was making rounds among the French allies, including Arendelle," Elsa explained.  "They're issuing a warning for us to cease all diplomatic relations with Sweden.  It just declared war against Emperor Bonaparte.  It's now allied with Russia." 

"What?" Anna gasped.  "But Hans is in Sweden! He's trapped behind enemy lines!  Is he… is he a prisoner now?" 

Elsa shook her head again as the purplish red of her dress flashed more intensely.  "He's been appointed General of the Swedish army by Prince Carl John of Sweden.  Emperor Bonaparte has already declared Hans a traitor along with all Swedes.  I can’t do anything for him anymore.  There's now a warrant for his arrest."

 

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am ending this story at this point of irony where Anna realizes she’s the one that needs to be forgiven in a role reversal of sorts with Hans. There have been a few songs that inspired this fic and I think most of you can tell one of them is Kristoff’s solo song from the Frozen Broadway musical “Kristoff Lullaby.” One of my favorite lines in that song is that he says “You’re what I know about love,” when he refers to Anna. I liked to imagine Hans also sang something like this when he realized how Anna meant to him as a friend, which was why he was so keen to protect her feelings. I also have another song in my head that I imagined Hans could have sang when he refrained from telling Anna the truth about what happened to Kristoff: “The Man I’ll Never Be” from the soundtrack of Daddy Long Legs the Broadway Musical. Check it out and the lyrics of this song pretty much summarizes Hans’ thought process.
> 
> I will try to work out a sequel where the focus will shift from Anna’s POV to multiple POVs including Hans and Elsa. I know it’s been a while since I updated and I can’t really promise how fast I will be able to churn out the next installment for this as I’ve been quite busy with life lately and I haven’t figured out how to work all the details on how I want to go with the sequel. The historical source material is also a lot more difficult to work out because there are just so many battles that happened in the year before Napoleon’s defeat and there are just so many possibilities on where to place Hans next. On top of that, Elsa will also be dealing with the internal politics between the Northern Isles and Arendelle, which will be incredibly complex. 
> 
> Just a backgrounder again on the context for this chapter: The Papal States, for those who are unfamiliar, are basically the territory ruled by the Pope. Back in those days, the Pope also ruled similar to a monarch with his own lands and armies. Napoleon abolished the Papal States during his reign and basically imprisoned the Pope, so it’s not surprising, the Pope would use the power of the pulpit to undermine the French Empire and its allies. 
> 
> Prince Carl John of Sweden was someone I mentioned before. He’s the same French Marshall Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte who betrayed Napoleon when he brought Sweden in conflict with France in early 1814. Incidentally, he’s also Napoleon’s brother-in-law and he got the throne of Sweden when he was elected by the Swedes to become the crown prince when the royal line died out. I read somewhere that he was elected to the crown because at an early point of his career when he was left in charge of Sweden as a French Marshall on France’s behalf he had been very kind to the Swedes and took care of them. I was struck at the similarity of his actions with Hans’ own in Arendelle when he was also left in charge. I think he’s someone Hans can relate to well and I see a lot of Hans’ personality in him.
> 
> As for Hans, he’s still a Westergaard even if he dropped the name. Faced with being ordered by his brother to be a pawn, he does a complete turn around and brings out his new ace from his sleeve (You wouldn’t think he would be content to just sit in the sidelines, do you?) 
> 
> I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed and read this story. I appreciate the comments very much.

**Author's Note:**

> I drew inspiration to this story on real events during the Napoleonic era which more or less occurs near the timeline of Frozen. This story will take place mostly during the Russian campaign when Napoleon organized the Grand Army of more than 600,000 soldiers, composed of citizens from multiple nations that included France, Prussia, Austria, Denmark-Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Naples, the Confederated States of the Rhine and the Duchy of Warsaw among other nearby states. 
> 
> The Battle of Borodino occurred on September 7, 1812. It was the single bloodiest battle of the Russian campaign that claimed around 70,000 lives in a day. However, this was only the beginning of a more devastating tragedy when the Grand Army suffered greatly during the Russian Winter. In the end only around 110,000 (some sources say only 45,000) men were able to return home alive from the original numbers that marched into Russia. 
> 
> I pictured that Arendelle, the Southern Isles and other small states in this region would also be swallowed up in this war and I wanted to write this story from someone who would be caught in the middle of it. I imagined Anna, as an unconventional princess, would have a big heart and enough courage to serve her people as a nurse in an age when the practice of nursing was not even considered a profession but an errand of mercy. I tried to describe an accurate picture of what Anna could have experienced in a hospital during this era. This was a time when there were barely any anesthetics available and antibiotics were non-existent. Amputation was a common way to treat those who have suffered injuries and a third of the amputated soldiers died due to infection. On top of injuries, diseases were also prevalent causes of death as hygiene was poor in the army camps. 
> 
> This is probably the darkest, most painful Frozen story I’ve come up. I wanted to explore a historical setting and tap into the complex traits of our favorite characters as they go through the gruesome realities of life in the early 1800s.


End file.
